Purdue, UConn to play for title
Zach Edey took a moment to reflect after playing all 40 minutes on Saturday.
“I don’t know if I expected it,” Edey said. “But I was ready for it.”
Edey scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Purdue pulled away for a 63-50 win over North Carolina State in the opening game of the NCAA Final Four on Saturday evening in Glendale, Ariz.
Lance Jones scored 14 points for Purdue (34-4), which advanced to the NCAA championship game for the first time since 1969. Fletcher Loyer finished with 11 points for the Boilermakers, and Mason Gillis chipped in eight.
Purdue will play another No. 1 seed, Uconn, on Monday night for the title. The Huskies (36-3) defeated No. 4 Alabama 86-72 later Saturday night.
“It’s everything,” Loyer said. “It’s everything we’ve worked for, everything we’ve thought about. A lot of late nights, (you) can’t even sleep because you’re thinking about it.”
DJ Horne finished with 20 points to lead No. 11 seed North Carolina State (26-15). Jayden Taylor contributed 11 points, and D.J. Burns Jr. scored eight for the Wolfpack, whose magical tournament run ended after reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1983.
Connecticut basketball just keeps on rolling in Final Four games.
UConn won its fourth straight national semifinal game and improved to 11-1 all-time at the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, outlasting Alabama 86-72 to reach the national championship game.
UConn has won 11 straight NCAA tournament games going back to last year, and its average margin of victory is 22 points in those games.
“The offense is super efficient. We’re top four in defense. We rebound the heck out of the ball. We can bunch up stops and then we score a lot. You get stops, you score,” Uconn coach Dan Hurley said. “I think we’ve got a lot of confidence. There’s a factor with teams now that they’ve seen us play, where we get on a run. I think it’s disheartening for the other team because they’ve seen it. They’ve seen us do it a lot.”
Freshman Stephon Castle led Uconn with 21 points, and sophomore center Donovan Clingan added 18. There were six ties and seven lead changes.