Zach Edey had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Purdue Boilermakers to the national championship Monday night to play the winner of Alabama vs Connecticut.
Edey became the first player in tournament history to have six consecutive games of 20 point and 10 rebounds. Lance Jones had 14 points including four 3-pointers, and Fletcher Lawyer had 11 points for Purdue. DJ Horne led NC State with 20 points and DJ Burns was held to 8 points in which he got into early foul trouble.
Purdue led by as many as 12 points in the first half, NC State fought back and pulled within three points before the end of the first half in which Purdue led 35 to 29. The Wolfpack couldn’t get a flow going it looks like they was going to make a run; Purdue will make a key shot stop any rhythm.
In the second half the boilermakers took control of the game and led as many as 20 points. They went on a 12-1 run and never look back. They dominated on the boards by out rebounding NC State 41 to 29. Also had 19 second chance points to help Purdue to advance to the title game.
NC State went 36.8% from the field and just 26.3% from the 3-point line. Michael O’Connell suffered a hamstring injury in the first half and played only nine minutes.
This is Purdue second national championship appearance in program history for Purdue, butthe first since 1969.
