NCAA Tournament Final Four Quick Wrap: Purdue 63, NC State 50

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Braden Smith didn’t score in his first Final Four game for his first 36 minutes and 36 seconds.

He made up for lack of quantity with quality when his three all but secured Purdue’s trip to the National Title game, giving Purdue a 61-43 lead with 3:24 to play.

Purdue would go on to win a defensive battle, 63-50.

On a night where the refs swallowed their whistles, and Smith and Edey both turned the ball over five times, Purdue was able to get enough from the edges and from beyond the three-point line to advance to its second NCAA Tournament Championship game in program history, the first since 1969.

When Purdue needed a bucket, often times it was senior transfer Lance Jones, who knocked down four threes on his way to 14 points.

But while Purdue struggled to find its points from its regular places – Zach Edey had just 20 points and 12 rebounds, becoming the first player to have six straight 20 and 10 NCAA Tournament games – Purdue’s defense never gave into DJ Burns and the NC State Wolfpack.

Burns was held to just 8 points and 4 assists while DJ Horne accounted for nearly half of NC State’s points with 20 to go with 6 rebounds.

But Purdue’s shooters stepped up. Fletcher Loyer had 11 points on 3 of 5 shooting from three. Mason Gillis was 2 of 5 from three with 8 points.

Braden Smith had an unusual game, scoring just 3 points but grabbing 8 rebounds to go with 6 assists. Smith turned the ball over 5 times in the first half, including two over the back turnovers, but didn’t turn it over in the second half.

NC State was just 21 of 57 from the floor and 5 of 19 from three.

Purdue had16 turnovers, but dominated the offensive glass. It held a 19-7 edge in second chance points. It also shot 10 of 25 from three.

Purdue will go on to face the winner of Alabama and UConn for the national title.

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Author : Boiler Upload

Publish date : 2024-04-07 00:12:03

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