Purdue rolls past NC State and into national championship with 63-50 win
Just one season after it lost to a 16 seed in the first round, Purdue is one more victory away from cutting down the nets. The Boilermakers put together a dominant defensive performance Saturday to defeat NC State by a score of 63-50 in the Final Four and advance to the national championship.
Center Zach Edey led Purdue with 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the win. The Boilermakers defense held the Wolfpack to just 36.8% shooting on the evening as they never trailed the entire contest.
After leading 35-29 at halftime, Purdue quickly expanded its lead to double digits to start off the second half. NC State hung within striking distance for around the first 10 minutes, but the Boilermakers took over down the stretch to go on a 14-1 run from the 7:28 to 2:52 mark and go up as many as 20 points.
Purdue limited Wolfpack star DJ Horne to just 8-of-21 (38.1%) shooting as he finished with 20 points. Additionally, DJ Burns scored just eight points after putting up 29 against Duke in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four.
Other than Edey, Lance Jones added 14 points while Fletcher Loyer chipped in 11 for Purdue. The Boilermakers are making just their second appearance in the national title. Not only that, but it is just their third appearance in the Final Four and the first since 1980.
Purdue bowed out of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of a double digit seed in each of the past three years, but a different story was written this season.
The Boilermakers lost their previous championship appearance in 1969 and will hope to claim their first championship in program history. They will hope for better results this time as they move on to face the winner between Alabama and UConn in the national championship game on Monday.
“It’s what we’ve been talking about all year,” Edey said postgame. “It’s probably been four years now. Playing and accepting that challenge next game. Whoever comes out of this next game is going to be a great team. But we’re going to lock in this game and execute.”