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MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The scream could have lasted ages.
With his butt firmly on the floor and both legs outstretched in front of him, Vincent Edwards unleashed such a yell, he had to have exhausted all the breath in his lungs.
It was a full-throated roar, really. Accompanied by as much flexing of the arms that can be done while sitting.
Edwards had just drilled a pivotal three-pointer from the corner when he raced down and positioned himself under the basket to absorb Payton Henson’s 6-foot-8, 215-pound body. Edwards went down. Henson went down. The whistle blew, and the official made perhaps the prettiest signal in his repertoire: The right first punching forward to signify a charge.
Edwards made many, many pivotal plays in fourth-seeded Purdue’s had-to-have-it 80-70 victory over No. 13 seed Vermont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night, but that one to cap that sequence?
That one, with its exhilarating reaction, was everything.
The crazy thing? That response is exactly what relief looks like.
“After I wake up and know I’m not dreaming, then I’m going to get ready (for the next game). But right now, I’m just in shock right now,” said Edwards afterward, shaking his head, his lips slipping into a smile.
Edwards, maybe more than anyone on Purdue’s roster, has felt the full weight of the team’s early exits in the tourney the last two years. In part because he’s felt ultimately responsible, whether that’s reality or not.
Against Cincinnati two years ago, he missed a three-pointer from the wing in the final seconds that could have won the game. Was it a shot he should have made? That’s debatable. But was it was one he dwelled on for more than a year? Yep — even had a picture of him crying after the loss as the wallpaper on his phone as a constant reminder of what he didn’t want to happen again. He, of course, opted to forget his 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in that game.
Last season, Edwards played well in the first round against Little Rock, even making a three-pointer late in the first half that was eerily similar to his miss against Cincy. He scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. But of his 7-of-16 shooting, he missed a putback late at the end of regulation and couldn’t sink a wide-open three — that rattled in before popping out — in regulation, too. Those shots stuck with him, again, over the offseason.
Through the first half Thursday at the Bradley Center, Edwards looked like he wouldn’t be able to redeem himself, to shake the feeling of failure, even if it largely was unwarranted from those first two NCAA losses. He had three turnovers in the first half, two ill-advised attempts to feed the post that were promptly stolen and another time in which he was stripped of the ball while dribbling.
At halftime, he was not happy.
He needed an intervention. Because Purdue needed him, clinging to a one-point lead at the break.
“He was really down at half. I told him, ‘Why are you down? You’ve been doing this all year. You’re a good player,’ ” point guard P.J. Thompson said. “I thought the turnovers he had, they were passive, so I told him, ‘Be aggressive. Even if you miss, go to the rim, use your shot fake.’ Any time he’s playing like that, Vince is a special player, not only scoring but offensive rebounding.”
And Edwards had a special second half that sparked the Boilermakers to a streak-breaking victory.
He scored the team’s first eight points of the half, first on an offensive putback, then facing up Henson at the top of the key and driving past him to for the basket, then floating a shot from the paint, then fighting up through defenders to finish in the paint. Purdue was surging, taking a seven-point lead about three minutes into the half.
Everything Edwards did not do in the first half — ball fake, shot fake, be calm and stay aggressive up top but not force things — he did in the second.
“He just exploited the mismatches,” guard Dakota Mathias said. “If he had a bigger on him, he’d take it to the hole. If he had a smaller guy on him, he’s shoot over him in the post. He’s one of those guys who can do it all. When you get in that rhythm like he was, it just brings a whole new dimension to our team. It’s huge.”
Edwards wasn’t satisfied with the fast start, though.
Vermont crept back into the game midway through the half, pulling within four. That’s when Mathias got a defensive rebound off a scramble and pushed the ball down the court. He found Edwards, nearly alone, in the left corner.
Edwards didn’t hesitate. He pulled the trigger and drilled the three-pointer, pushing the lead back to seven.
It was a play that gave Edwards flashbacks to his last two NCAA Tournaments — and those near-misses.
“It was (in) rhythm, and I’ve had past experiences where I haven’t taken threes and experiences in the past where I’ve missed some threes to go ahead,” he said. “I just said, ‘This one has to go.’ I’ve taken some, I’ve been through some, I’ve done all the bad, so something has to come out good. I just shot the three with confidence. (Mathias) did a good job of finding me, and thank God, it went in.”
And then, at the other end, the charge.
The flex.
The yell to end all yells.
“It’s almost like having a dunk,” Edwards said of the emotions a charge brings, “it sparks like that. It’s unbelievable.”
So was Edwards.
In the end, his 10-of-16 shooting, including one three, his 21 points, his five rebounds, his three assists, his two blocks, his steal in 35 minutes, they were enough. Finally. And it is enough. For now.
“Honestly,” said Edwards, before pausing and blowing out a deep breath, “I’m going to throw this one at the top, to be able to get this one. I know I’ve had some really good games in my career, but none of them feel bigger than this one right now.”
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