DETROIT – Purdue big man Zach Edey withstood all the abuse Gonzaga threw at him Friday night, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lift the Boilermakers to an 80-68 victory and move them to a Final Four victory.
Gonzaga leaned, punched and grabbed the 7-foot-4 center — even slapping him on the forehead at one point — but it wasn’t enough to stop him or his team, first in the series.
On Sunday, Purdue, which last year became the second ever first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will face the winner of Friday’s subsequent game between Tennessee and Creighton in the Midwest Region.
A victory there would put the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
Braden Smith had 14 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers, although this game, like most of them for Purdue (32-4), came down to the other team’s inability to remember the country’s top scorer.
“Obviously we still have a place to go with the ball with big Zach,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
Fifth-seeded Gonzaga (27-8) tried its luck for 30 minutes, but foul trouble and a dwindling basket ended its hopes.
Graham Ike had 18 points and 10 rebounds for coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs, who shot just 38 percent in the first 15 minutes of the second half and fell to 0-3 against Edey and the Boilermakers over the past two seasons.
Like all Gonzaga big men, Ike spent the evening in deep trouble; he got his fifth and left the field for good with 5:07 left.
Ike picked up his second foul midway through the second half as he and Edey argued in the paint and then bit each other after the referee’s whistle.
Edey made one of two free throws there, but followed it up with a couple of baby hooks as part of a 10-0 run that made it a 16-point game.
No moment, however, illustrated the frustration more than late in the first half when another Gonzaga big man, Ben Gregg, found himself pinned under the basket by Edey. Gregg fought back and nailed the center with an open-handed round slap to the forehead as Edey fell in for an easy layup.
This is all par for the course for last season’s AP Player of the Year, who practically has a double-double when he gets up in the morning.
He recorded his 27th of the season and 66th of his career at 14:44 of the second half.
It was part of a five-shot trip down the court that Edey sealed with a jumper in the paint.
Purdue topped Gonzaga 32-25.
Edey finished the night going 10-for-15 from the field and 7-for-10 from the line.
He failed to block but made things difficult on Gonzaga from his low spot in Purdue’s zone – altering no less than a half-dozen shots in the second half.
New York Post
