GLENDALE, Ariz. — Purdue is one win away from a tie with Virginia.
The Boilermakers, who lost as a No. 1 seed in the opening game of last year’s NCAA Tournament, are 40 minutes away from making their final comeback.
In their first Final Four appearance since 1980, Purdue didn’t show much of a upset.
They took an early lead and dominated through the middle, defeating No. 11 North Carolina State 63-50 at State Farm Stadium to earn a spot in Monday’s national championship game.
Zach Eady was shut down at times by North Carolina State big men DJ Burns Jr. and Ben Middlebrooks, but still dominated.
He had 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, extending his tournament streak to 20 games, 10 games and six games.
This is the longest such tournament streak since Elvin Hayes in 1967-68.
At 7 feet 4 inches, Edie had a lot of help.
Southern Illinois transfer Lance Jones, who did not participate in the upset over FDU last March, scored 14 points and Fletcher Royer added 11 points.
Purdue finally pulled away late in the second half, building an 18-point lead as Royer and Braden Smith (six assists) sank back-to-back 3-pointers to go on a 12-1 run.
The Boilermakers’ defense was the real deal.
North Carolina State had won nine straight games and was on the verge of elimination.
During that span, they averaged 78.7 points.
On Saturday night, he made just 50 attempts on 36.8 percent shooting and 26.3 percent from long range.
DJ Horn led North Carolina State with 20 points, but Burns, the Wolfpack’s breakout star last month, was held to eight points on 4-of-10 shooting.
