DETROIT — — Purdue large man Zach Edey withstood all of the abuse Gonzaga may lay on him Friday night time, ending with 27 factors and 14 rebounds to raise the Boilermakers to an 80-68 victory and transfer them one win from the Ultimate 4.
Gonzaga leaned on, swatted and grabbed on the 7-foot-4 heart — even slapped him throughout the brow at one level — but it surely wasn’t sufficient to cease both him or his top-seeded workforce.
On Sunday, Purdue, which final 12 months turned historical past’s second first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will play the winner of Friday’s later recreation between Tennessee and Creighton within the Midwest Area. A win there would land this system within the Ultimate 4 for the primary time since 1980.
Braden Smith had 14 factors, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers, although this recreation, like most of them for Purdue (32-4), got here all the way down to the opposite workforce’s incapacity to carry down the nation’s main scorer.
“Clearly we’ve at all times received a spot to go together with the ball with large Zach,” Purdue coach Matt Painter mentioned.
Fifth-seeded Gonzaga (27-8) gave it a go for half-hour, however foul hassle and an ever-shrinking basket ended its hopes.
Graham Ike had 18 factors and 10 rebounds for coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs, who shot solely 38% over the primary quarter-hour of the second half and fell to 0-3 vs. Edey and the Boilermakers over the previous two seasons.
Like all Gonzaga large males, Ike spent the night in foul hassle; he received his fifth and trudged off the courtroom for good with 5:07 left.
Ike received his second foul midway by means of the second half whereas he and Edey tussled within the paint, then jawed at one another after the ref’s whistle. Edey made one among two free throws there, however adopted with a pair child hooks as a part of a 10-0 run that made this a 16-point recreation.
No second, although, illustrated the frustration as a lot as on the finish of the primary half when one other Gonzaga large man, Ben Gregg, discovered himself pinned below the basket by Edey. Gregg flailed and nailed the middle with a roundhouse open-handed slap flush throughout the brow as Edey dropped in a straightforward layup.
All par for the course for final season’s AP Participant of the Yr, who just about has a double-double when he will get away from bed within the morning. He recorded his twenty seventh of the season and 66th of his profession on the 14:44 mark of the second half. It was a part of a five-shot journey down the courtroom that Edey sealed with a jumper within the paint.
Purdue outrebounded Gonzaga 32-25.
Edey completed the night 10 for 15 from the ground and seven for 10 from the road. He didn’t have a block however made issues troublesome on Gonzaga from his low spot in Purdue’s zone — altering no fewer than a half-dozen photographs within the second half.
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AP March Insanity bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness