Purdue retained its March madness dream alive while stifling North Carolina State’s, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from Zach Edey in a 63-50 victory Saturday that gave the Boilermakers their first NCAA title.
NC State pushed and hit the 7-foot-4 Edey and gave him fits during his 40 minutes on the floor, but he still dominated the big man battle against 6-9, 275-pound Wolfpack center DJ Burns Jr., who worked his way to eight points and four assists. DJ Horne led the 11th-seeded Wolfpack with 20 points.
Purdue (34-4) advances to Monday night’s final to face the winner of the final game between Alabama and defending champion UConn. NC State (26-15) finished its season two wins short of a repeat of 1983, when it reeled off nine straight must-win games to win one of the most improbable titles in history.
Some might also call this run by top-seeded Purdue improbable. The program is in the Final Four for the first time since 1980, just one season after becoming the second seed to fall in the first round.
The team of Edey and coach Matt Painter has overcome every challenge so far. They did it this time despite a three-point night from their second-leading scorer, Braden Smith, who shot 1 of 9 (but finished with eight rebounds and six assists).
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He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t buy a bucket. The NC State team that outscored Duke 55-37 after halftime in the Elite Eight this time shot 28.6 percent over the final 20 minutes — a cold spell that included open looks galore which simply would not fall.
It made for ugly hoops. At the start of the second half, the teams missed 10 straight shots between them.
Despite all of Smith’s struggles, he put the final dagger in NC State’s season.
This occurred at the end of a sequence in which Horne shot a ball and Edey crushed North Carolina State guard Jayden Taylor’s shot out of the paint, while at On the other end, Fletcher Loyer then Smith made consecutive 3s.
Smith was part of an 8-0 run that pushed Purdue’s lead to 20. The only drama remaining was whether the Wolfpack would surpass its season low of scoring 52 points. They do not have.
Edey, the back-to-back AP Player of the Year, recorded his 29th double-double of the season. But it wasn’t an easy ride in the paint for the nation’s leading scorer. NC State finished with eight interceptions. Most of it came from guards who had slumped on Edey and pushed him back.
Horne did well on Edey. Wolfpack forward Ben Middlebrooks did even better. Ultimately, however, Edey was just too much to handle. He blocked two shots, altered about five others and his presence inside played a role in NC State’s 36 percent shooting night.
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