GLENDALE, Ariz. — The first time Zach Edey touched the ball Saturday afternoon, his teeth clenched and DJ Burns Jr. held his ground. There’s only one issue when it comes to Edey versus Burns: seven inches.
Burns is too small for Edey, who can turn around and shoot Burns with no issue. Edey scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds in a clunky 63-50 win over NC State that propelled Purdue to its first national title game since 1969.
The Wolfpack actually have a good plan for Edey, using both Burns and Ben Middlebrooks against him. Both players can hold their ground and NC State’s guards will dig the ball. They created five Edey turnovers and Middlebrooks was the Edey stopper, allowing Edey to score just once when Middlebrooks had an assignment.
While Edey struggled when he put the ball on the floor and dug the Wolfpack up, he had the ability to pass it to shooters when he sensed them coming. He had four assists, including a big one on a dagger corner 3 from Fletcher Loyer that stretched the Boilermakers’ lead to 15 with less than five minutes remaining.
Purdue made 10-of-25 3-pointers. Super senior Lance Jones, who was the one piece Matt Painter added in the offseason after last season’s first-round loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, made a team-best four 3s and added 14 points.
The Boilermakers’ defensive game plan at NC State was just as smart, putting Edey in front of the rim to try to prevent Burns from scoring in the paint and tough Mohamed Diarra shooting. Diarra missed both of his 3-point attempts and scored just two points. Edey also held his own against Burns, scoring eight points on 4-of-10 shooting.
The Wolfpack had some success attacking Edey and Purdue’s bigs in drop coverage, which opened up shots for DJ Horne, who scored a team-high 20 points. But NC State just missed too many shots, shooting 36.8 percent from the field.
The Wolfpack did enough on the defensive end to win the game. Not only did they have a smart plan for Edey, they also had Braden Smith in the Boilermakers’ deadly pick-and-roll attack. Smith wasn’t himself, missing his first seven shots and committing five turnovers — all in the first half, including two over-and-back violations. NC State almost dared him to shoot, and he finally put the game away with a late wide open 3-pointer around an Edey ball screen.
Purdue will play UConn in the nightcap in the program’s second appearance in the title game.
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(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
