ESPN REPORT: Zach Edey, Dalton Knecht top Wooden finalists……

Reigning Wooden Award winner Zach Edey of Purdue and Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht headlined the award’s five finalists and 10-man All-American team announced Tuesday night. The two stars are coming off one of the best NCAA tournament duels in history in the Boilermakers’ 72-66 regional final victory over the Volunteers. Edey finished with 40 points, 16 rebounds and the game-clinching block on a Knecht layup attempt, while Knecht had 37 points and six 3-pointers.

It was the first game in NCAA tournament history in which both teams had a player score at least half its points, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Edey became the first player with 40 points, 15 rebounds and 60% field goal shooting in a game since Houston’s Elvin Hayes in 1968.

Edey, a 7-foot-4 center, is the heavy front-runner to win the Wooden Award, given annually to the best college basketball player in the country. He is aiming to be the first repeat winner since Virginia’s Ralph Sampson in 1982 and 1983.