Battle of the Bigs: Comparing Zach Edey and Donovan Clingan’s Impressive Stats

For most of the season, these two teams have been the best in the nation, and each has held the top spot in the AP rankings for several weeks.

Despite having distinct routes to the championship game, both teams share many characteristics, including as dominating big men. With his dominance on defense and exceptional quickness for a 7-footer, Donovan Clingan has been predicted as a consensus lottery choice. Zach Edey became the first AP Player of the Year to win it twice since Ralph Sampson did so three years in a row from 1981 to 1983.

In order to determine how dominant Edey and Clingan have been statistically, FOX Sports Research made the decision to go deep.

Let’s take a look.

Zach Edey

2: Zach Edey became the first player to record 30 points and 20 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Joe Smith of Maryland in 1995 during Purdue’s victory over Grambling in the first round. The only two players to post such a stat line in the NCAA Tournament in the previous fifty years are Edey and Smith.

1968: Edey became the first player since Elvin Hayes in 1968 to record at least 140 points and 70 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament after recording 140 points and 77 rebounds in five games in this year’s competition.

4: Edey joined Bo Kimble (1990), Elvin Hayes (1968), and Bill Bradley (1965) as the only players to score 40 points and grab 15 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game within the previous 60 seasons, as Purdue defeated Tennessee in the Elite Eight.

6: Edey became the sixth player in history to score 40 points in a game that advanced his team to the Final Four when Purdue defeated Tennessee in the Elite Eight. The other five players are Dennis Scott (1990), Bill Bradley (1965), Oscar Robertson (1960), Don Schlundt (1953), and Clyde Lovellette (1952).

45: Edey became the first Division-I player to record 900 points and 450 rebounds in a single season since Indiana State’s Larry Bird in 1979–45 years ago–during Purdue’s Elite Eight victory over Tennessee.

20: Edey became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to try more than 20 field goals and more than 20 free throws in Purdue’s Elite Eight victory over Tennessee.

1960: Edey became the first player to lead Division-I in scoring to qualify for the Final Four since Oscar Robertson in 1960 following Purdue’s victory against Tennessee.

6: Edey began the streak against Fairleigh Dickinson in the previous year’s tournament, and he is the only player since Elvin Hayes in 1967–68 to post 20 points and 10 rebounds in six consecutive NCAA Tournament games.

109: During the past four years, Edey has won more games than any other major conference team.

Donovan Clingan

1986: Clingan became the first player to record so many points, rebounds, and blocks in an NCAA Tournament game since David Robinson of Navy in 1986 when he scored 14 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked 8 shots against Northwestern.

64.5: With a minimum of 100 field goal attempts, Clingan’s career field goal percentage of 64.5% is currently the greatest of any player in UConn history.

10: Clingan leads all players in the NCAA Tournament with 3.6 blocks per game (minimum two games played); he is ranked 10th in Division-I this season with 2.5 blocks per game.

Clingan is among the four Power 6 players (Ryan Kalkbrenner, Johni Broome, Zach Edey) who average 13 points or more per game, seven points or more per game, and two points or more per game.

100: Clingan on the floor helps UConn score 20.1 more points per 100 possessions while limiting opponents to 15.3 fewer points per 100 possessions, per CBB Analytics.

2: Clingan is ranked #2 overall in Evan Miyakawa’s player rankings tool for CBB analytics (Edey is ranked #1).

1: Clingan leads all players on Power 6 teams with at least 13 points per game in terms of percentage of points in the paint, according to CBB Analytics.