After a thrilling journey through the NCAA Tournament, NC State basketball loses to Purdue in the Final Four.

The latest chance for N.C. State to extend its incredible playoff run came early in the second half of Saturday night’s Final Four matchup against Purdue.
For the first time in over a month, the Wolfpack were unable to convert a nearly five-minute Boilermakers scoring drought into a victory.

In an NCAA Tournament national semifinal basketball game at State Farm Stadium, Purdue overcame its own scoring problems to finally stretch its advantage to double digits and hang on to defeat the Wolfpack, 63-50. N.C. State missed nine of its first ten attempts after halftime.
The Boilermakers (34-4) interrupted N.C. State’s nine-game winning run, which had propelled the Wolfpack from a No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament to a conference championship and its first Final Four since 1983, behind 7-4 big Zach Edey’s 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Coach Kevin Keatts of N.C. State said, “I don’t think I could be more proud of a group of men that I’ve ever coached in my life.” You name it: hardships, circumstances, hardships, and adventures. They succeeded in winning the ACC and advancing to the Final Four.
However, N.C. State’s magic was short-lived as they shot just 37.5% and only made 27.8% (5 of 18) of their 3-pointers.
“We didn’t make some of the shots we normally make in the game,” Keatts said. “They definitely kind of slipped away from us.”
Thus, the Boilermakers, the top-seeded team in the Midwest Region and participants in their first Final Four since 1980, will take on the defending champion Connecticut (36-3) in Monday night’s 9:20 p.m. NCAA Tournament championship game.
After one of the most incredible runs the event has ever seen, the Wolfpack (26–15) is eliminated from the competition. N.C. State advanced from a No. 11 regional seed to the national semifinals after winning five games in five days to earn the ACC title and an automatic entry in the NCAA Tournament.
Guard DJ Horne of N.C. State remarked, “I think it was just one of those days where the ball wasn’t bouncing our way.” In retrospect, I find it difficult to recall every detail of the game. I can’t recall off the top of my head that we didn’t take many pictures.
However, against Purdue, a few of the components that brought the Wolfpack there were absent. DJ Burns, the 6-9 forward who captured the hearts of the country with his deft big-man movements, finished with eight points on four of ten shots. When there was 18:28 remaining with the Wolfpack trailing 39-29, he was flagged for his third foul.
Purdue went 4:50 at that point without scoring. N.C. State trailed 39-33 after Horne made two free throws at 16:14 after Burns scored inside.
However, Burns was benched, and the Wolfpack offense also stalled.
Both teams missed ten straight field goals, while N.C. State failed to score on six of those opportunities. With 13:38 remaining, Mason Gillis broke Purdue’s 3-point drought, and with 12:44 remaining, Lance Jones added another to put the Boilermakers up 45-33.
The Wolfpack’s underdog tale came to an end as they were unable to produce a steady offensive output and were never inside seven points the remainder of the game.
Until Jayden Taylor’s game-winning 3-pointer late in the half, Horne was the only player for N.C. State to score in double figures with 20 points. The Wolfpack made only 8 of 27 (29.6%) in the second half.
The two-time national player of the year Edey put up a ton of points for the Boilermakers, but they also got 11 from Fletcher Loyer and 14 from Jones, who included four 3-pointers.
The Boilermakers made 10 of 25 3-pointers, and Edey assisted them in winning the rebounding battle 41-28 despite Purdue’s meager 40% shooting from the floor. With their 11 offensive rebounds, the Boilermakers scored 19 points on second chances.
The Boilermakers dominated play inside and opened up a double-digit lead in less than ten minutes of play in the first half. Purdue jumped out to a 23–13 lead when Edey scored his tenth basket.
Burns said, “I think I didn’t do as good of a job keeping him getting to that right hand in the first half.” “He’s a tall guy who will make his shots if you let him get to his spots.” Although it was a bit too late, we cleaned things up.
After Edey made two free throws at 6:29 to increase Purdue’s lead to 28-16, the Boilermakers seemed prepared to seize the initiative.
However, the Wolfpack’s reserves gave them a lift, enabling them to put together a 9-2 run. The Wolfpack went up 6-0 thanks to two baskets from Breon Pass and a jumper by Horne. Following an assist from Edey on a Fletcher Loyer miss, NC State’s Jayden Taylor cut the Purdue advantage to 30–25 with a 3-pointer.
With 39 seconds remaining in the half, N.C. State trailed 32-29 against Purdue after Horne made jumpers on consecutive Wolfpack possessions after Trey Kaufman-Renn’s bank shot in the lane for the team’s score.
On Purdue’s last possession of the half, Loyer made a 3-pointer. After receiving a kick-out pass from Edey, he swished the ball to give the Boilermakers a 35-29 lead at the break.
At that time, the Wolfpack was definitely in the game. However, a revival was thwarted by its second-half shooting struggles, which were made worse by guard Michael O’Connell’s hamstring injury sustained in the first half.
We’ve been using seven or eight players, according to Keatts. “A major player leaving, significant adjustments are made. We didn’t really have somebody who could produce for someone else since he is our main help man.

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