How Purdue and UConn advanced to the national championship game

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It’s been a long time between NCAA Final Fours for Purdue. Connecticut, not so much. But those are the teams left standing as March Madness has morphed into April.

While the early tournament was highlighted by upsets and dramatic finishes, neither was the case in Saturday’s semifinals at State Farm Stadium. Purdue advanced with a 63-50 win over North Carolina State, ending the Wolfpacks Cinderella story and nine-game win streak while the defending champion UConn Huskies registered an 86-72 win over fiirst time Final Four comer Alabama.

So it will be UConn (36-3) and Purdue (34-4) left to battle it out Monday night.

This will mark just the second championship game appearance for Purdue, which last appeared in 1969 when it lost the title tilt to a John Wooden-coached UCLA team 92-72 in Louisville, Kentucky.

UConn will be looking to repeat after defeating San Diego State for the championship a year ago. The Huskies are looking to be the first team to go back-to-back since the University of Florida did so in 2006 and 2007 under Billy Donovan.

Let’s take a look at how the teams got there:

How Purdue beat N.C. State

Zach Edey was his usual dominant self: It’s hard to defend a guy that is 7-foot-4, a a solid 7-4 at that. Edey nearly had a double-double in the first half alone with 14 points and eight rebounds as the Purdue took a 35-29 lead into the locker room. He finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. N.C. State had its behemoth in D.J. Burns trying to match up with Edey, but he was still giving up seven inches. Burns picked up his third foul 90 seconds into the second half. Edey is the first player in NCAA tournament history with 20 points and 10 rebounds in six straight games. He played all 40 minutes.

Rebounding: The Boilermakers rank second in the county in rebounding margin at +11 and yes, having a space eater like Edey is a big factor in that. Purdue got the first seven rebounds of the game and ended up with a 41-28 advantage there as well as a 19-7 advantage in second chance…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/purdue-uconn-advanced-national-championship-130111727.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2024-04-07 13:01:11

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