How to watch: Utah State Aggies take on Zach Edey, No. 1 Purdue in NCAA Tournament

The Big Fish made a splash in the first round.

But Utah State’s Isaac Johnson knows his next challenge is bigger than just about anybody else in college basketball.

The Aggies take on No. 1 Purdue on Sunday and their No. 1 priority will be dealing with 7-foot-4, 300-pound Zach Edey.

“Sometimes you can’t,” Johnson said when asked how to stop Purdue’s big man. “But I think what we can do is stop the rest of the team from doing some of the things that they do.”

Edey averages 24 points and 12 rebounds a game. In the Boilermakers’ first-round matchup with Grambling, he put up 30 and 21. The big man went to the line 17 times in that game.

“I think just wall up as best as you can,” Johnson said. “I think he’s No. 1 in the country for fouls drawn, so obviously that’s a big part of their game plan, and it’s a big part of why he’s been so successful. So we just have to be as physical as we can, chest out, and do what we can without fouling. Don’t swipe down, even though the temptation is there because it’s so high up, and just be smart.”

Asked if he’s ever faced anyone like Edey before, Johnson went back to his high school days in Utah County and a matchup against former Pleasant Grove star Matt Van Komen — a 7-foot-4 center who went on to play at Utah and Saint Mary’s.

“Pretty much all my energy just went into defense,” Johnson recalled .”It was not my best offensive game of the year because all of my energy went into defense. So if that’s what it takes again for us to have other people step up, we have a team of guys that can step up. So we’ll just do our best on that end.”

Edey, meanwhile, offered praise for the Aggies ahead of Monday’s game.

“They’re a good team, obviously,” he said. “They kind of play that 5 out style, they try to spread you with their 5 man that can shoot and also put the ball on the floor and make some plays like that. Obviously, we have some things in place to try to prevent the way they want to play.”