NC State’s charmed Final Four run ends in loss to Purdue
N.C. State’s latest opportunity to continue its magical postseason run arrived early in the second half against Purdue at the Final Four on Saturday night.
A nearly five-minute Boilermakers scoring drought presented a chance, only for the first time in a month, the Wolfpack couldn’t turn that chance into triumph.
N.C. State missed nine of its first 10 shots after halftime and Purdue overcame its own scoring woes to eventually push its lead to double-digits and hold on to beat the Wolfpack, 63-50, in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal basketball game at State Farm Stadium.
Behind 7-4 center Zach Edey’s 20 points and 12 rebounds, the Boilermakers (34-4) ended N.C. State’s nine-game winning streak that had carried the Wolfpack from a No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament to a league title and its first Final Four since 1983.
“I don’t know that I could be more prouder of a group of men that I’ve ever coached in my life,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. “Adversity, you name it, situations, you name it, hard times, you name it. They found a way to win the ACC, they found a way to make it to the Final Four.”
But N.C. State’s magic ended as it shot only 36.8%, making just 26.3% (5 of 19) of its 3-pointers.
“Some of the shots we normally make, we didn’t make in the game,” Keatts said. “Certainly kind of got away from us a little bit.”
So the Boilermakers, the
Midwest Region’s No. 1 seed playing in their first Final Four since 1980, advance to Monday night’s 9:20 p.m. NCAA Tournament championship game to play reigning champion Connecticut (36-3).
The Wolfpack (26-15) exits the tournament after one of the most amazing runs the event has seen. After winning five games in five days to claim the ACC championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, N.C. State rose from a No. 11 regional seed to the national semifinals.
“I think it was just one of those days where the ball wasn’t bouncing our way,” N.C. State guard DJ Horne said. “Looking back at it, I can’t really remember everything that went on in the game. Off the top of my head, I know we didn’t make shots at a high clip.”
But some of the elements that carried the Wolfpack there were missing against Purdue. DJ Burns, the 6-9 forward who won the nation’s hearts with his nimble moves for a big man, scored eight points on 4 of 10 shooting. He picked up his third foul with 18:28 to play and the Wolfpack trailing 39-29.
That’s when Purdue endured 4:50 without scoring. Burns scored inside before Horne hit two free throws at 16:14 to leave N.C. State down 39-33.
But Burns went to the bench and the Wolfpack offense stagnated, too.
The teams combined to miss 10 consecutive shots and N.C. State went six consecutive possessions without scoring. Mason Gillis ended the drought for Purdue with a 3-pointer with 13:38 to play and Lance Jones hit another to give the Boilermakers a 45-33 lead with 12:44 to play.
Unable to generate consistent offense, the Wolfpack were never closer than seven points the rest of the game and its underdog story ended.
Horne was N.C. State’s lone double-figure scorer with 20 points, until Jayden Taylor hit a late 3pointer to give him 11, as the Wolfpack shot just 8 of 28 (28.6%) in the second half.
In addition the massive production received from Edey, the two-time national player of the year, the Boilermakers also received 14 points from Jones (with four 3-pointers) and 11 from Fletcher Loyer.
While Purdue shot just 40% from the field, the Boilermakers hit 10 of 25 3-pointers and Edey helped it win the rebounding battle, 41-28. The Boilermakers turned their 11 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
In the first half, the Boilermakers needed less than 10 minutes of play to open a double-digit lead as they dominated play inside. Edey scored his 10th point when Purdue opened a 23-13 lead.
“I think I didn’t do as good of a job in the first half keeping him getting to that right hand,” Burns said. “He’s a tall guy, if you let him get to his spots, he’s going to make his shots. We cleaned it up, but it was a little too late.”
Edey’s two free throws at 6:29 boosted Purdue’s advantage to 28-16 and the Boilermakers appeared ready to take control.
But the Wolfpack received a boost from their reserves to piece together a 9-2 run. Two baskets from Breon Pass and a Horne jumper gave the Wolfpack a 6-0 run. After Edey tipped in a Fletcher Loyer miss, but Jayden Taylor responded with an NC State 3-pointer trimming the Purdue lead to 30-25.
After Trey KaufmanRenn’s scored on a bank shot in the lane for Purdue, Horne hit jumpers on back-to-back Wolfpack possessions and N.C. State trailed 32-29 with 39 seconds left in the half.
Loyer hit a 3-pointer on Purdue’s final possession of the half, collecting a kick-out pass from Edey and swishing a shot that gave the Boilermakers a 35-29 halftime lead.
The Wolfpack was clearly in the game at that point. But its second-half shooting woes, exacerbated by the hamstring injury guard Michael O’Connell suffered in the first half, prevented a rally.
“We’ve been playing seven or eight guys,” Keatts said. “One of your key guys go down, it changes a lot. He’s our leading assist guy, so we didn’t really have anyone that could create for someone else.”
Steve Wiseman: 919-419-6671, @stevewisemanNC