Chao News client reporter Cao Linbo
On April 9, the 2024 NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I Men's Basketball Championship ended the final championship battle.
In the final of the day, Purdue University faced the defending champion University of Connecticut. UConn was blocked in the first half and only led by 6 points, but in the second half, the defending champions suppressed Purdue University at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and continued to open the lead to lay the victory, and finally UConn defeated Purdue University 75-60, completing two consecutive championships for the first time in team history, and winning all six finals in team history.
In terms of statistics:
Purdue University: Zhou Zhihao 37 points and 10 rebounds, Smith 12 points, and only two players on the team scored double-doubles.
University of Connecticut: Newton 20, Castle 15, Spencer 11, Klingen 11, Diarra 9.
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness, features 68 teams competing and attracting national attention during the tournament, with even the NBA making way for it by not arranging games on the day of the finals.
In the end, only two of the 68 teams remained, with Purdue University and the University of Connecticut defeating their respective opponents to meet in the finals, both of which were the top seeds in their respective regions, with Purdue University being the top seed in the Midwest and defending champion UConn being the top seed in the East.
Purdue, in particular, has attracted the attention of Chinese fans, as it reached the NCAA Tournament final for the first time since 1969. The player who led the team to create 55 years of history is the NCAA's super nuclear weapon, Zach Edey, Chinese name, Zhou Zhihao.
Zhou Zhihao, 2.24 meters tall, only 2 centimeters away from Yao Ming, Canadian athlete, his grandfather is Chinese, from Guangzhou, and his mother is a first-generation Chinese Canadian. The name "Zhou Zhihao" was given to him by his grandfather, and he himself tattooed his Chinese and English names on his left chest.
But Zhou Zhihao has already represented the Canadian national team in last year's World Cup.
In his four years of college, Zhou Zhihao's scoring gradually improved, averaging 8.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in his freshman year and 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in his sophomore year. In his junior season, Zhou Zhihao averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 60.7% from the field, leading Purdue University to win the regular season and championship championships of the Top 10 Leagues and becoming the No. 1 seed in the NCAA. Although the team was knocked out in the first round in March Madness, Zhou Zhihao was named to the NCAA All-American First Team and was also selected as the NCAA Player of the Year.
This year is Zhou Zhihao's fourth year of university, and entering March, Zhou Zhihao's scoring data is like riding a rocket, soaring all the way. Before this finals, Zhou Zhihao had scored at least 20 points and 10 rebounds with a shooting rate of 60% or more, setting a record in the NCAA Division I League for nearly 25 years.
With his explosive performance this season, Zhou Zhihao has greatly improved his draft market. In ESPN's 2024 mock draft, Zhou ranked 13th, and last year, in his junior season, the draft prediction was that he could only be selected in the second round.
Whether Qingdao men's basketball player Yang Hansen, who competed in the CBA in the first year, should challenge the NBA has become a hot topic among fans, and Zhou Zhihao's performance and his development trend from NCAA to NBA can also be used as some reference for Yang Hansen, who plays the same position.
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