Purdue kept its March Madness dream alive while snuffing out North Carolina State鈥檚, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds from Zach Edey in a 63-50 victory Saturday that placed the Boilermakers a win from their first NCAA title.
N.C. State poked and jabbed at the 7-foot-4 Edey and gave him fits over his 40 minutes on the floor, but he still dominated the battle of big men against 6-9, 275-pound Wolfpack forward DJ Burns Jr., who labored to eight points and four assists. DJ Horne led the 11th-seeded Wolfpack with 20 points.
Purdue (34-4) moves on to Monday night鈥檚 final to play the winner of the later game between Alabama and defending champion UConn. N.C. State (26-15) ended its season two victories shy of a repeat of 1983, when it came through in nine straight must-win games to capture one of history鈥檚 most unlikely titles.
Some might call this run by top-seeded Purdue unlikely, too. The program is in the Final Four for the first time since 1980, only one season after becoming the second top seed to fall in the first round.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the one we鈥檝e been talking about all year,鈥 said Edey, who came back for his senior season after last year's disappointment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the one we鈥檝e been talking about for four years now, to be able to play in that, accept that challenge.鈥
Edey and coach Matt Painter鈥檚 team have swatted away every challenge thus far. They did it this time despite a three-point night from their second-leading scorer, Braden Smith, who shot 1 for 9 (but finished with eight rebounds and six assists).
He wasn鈥檛 the only one who couldn鈥檛 buy a bucket. The N.C. State team that outscored Duke 55-37 after halftime in the Elite Eight shot 28.6 per cent over the last 20 minutes this time 鈥 a cold spell that included open looks galore that simply would not fall.
鈥淭he biggest difference is that some of the shots we normally make we didn鈥檛 make in that game,鈥 Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said. 鈥淚t kinda got away from us a little bit.鈥
It made for some ugly hoops. At one stretch early in the second half, the teams missed 10 straight shots between them.
鈥淥bviously it was one of those grinder games," Painter said.
For all Smith鈥檚 struggles, he put the final dagger in N.C. State鈥檚 season.
It came at the end of a stretch during which Horne shot an airball and Edey swatted N.C. State guard Jayden Taylor鈥檚 shot out of the paint, while on the other end, Fletcher Loyer and then Smith made back-to-back 3s.
That was part of an 8-0 run that pushed Purdue鈥檚 lead to 20. The only drama left was whether the Wolfpack would surpass their season low in scoring of 52 points. They did not.
Edey, the back-to-back AP Player of the Year, had his 29th double-double of the season. But this was no easy stroll through the paint for the nation鈥檚 leading scorer. N.C. State finished with eight steals. Most came from guards sagging down on Edey and swatting it away.
Burns did OK on Edey. Wolfpack forward Ben Middlebrooks did even better. In the end, though, Edey was just too hard to deal with. He blocked two shots, altered about five others and his inside presence played into N.C. State鈥檚 36 per cent shooting night.
Edey also had four assists.
鈥淎nytime your best player鈥檚 unselfish, everybody just gets in line,鈥 Painter said.
Donald Trump took the stage Sunday night at New York鈥檚 Madison Square Garden to deliver his campaign's closing argument with the election nine days away after several of his allies used crude and racist insults toward U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.
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Victor Garber got teary-eyed when he walked into a brunch in his honour Sunday in London, Ont.
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With jaw-dropping big wall ascents and a life packed with adrenaline and adventure, climber Tommy Caldwell has had a career worthy of 鈥 and captured by 鈥 a feature film.
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A massive mudslide closed the freeway south of the Canada-U.S. border in Bellingham, Wash. Sunday.
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Victor Garber got teary-eyed when he walked into a brunch in his honour Sunday in London, Ont.
A 17-year-old Ottawa driver was caught speeding nearly 90 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 417.
Giving away used clothes for a second life feels like an act of charity 鈥 and it often is. But it鈥檚 become more complicated. A W5 investigation has discovered allegations that organized crime players are muscling in on charities to access their donation bins.
Donald Trump took the stage Sunday night at New York鈥檚 Madison Square Garden to deliver his campaign's closing argument with the election nine days away after several of his allies used crude and racist insults toward U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.
Voters in Uruguay headed to the polls to choose a new president on Sunday in a race that defies regional trends of bitter division and democratic erosion.
Russian forces thwarted an attempt at another cross-border incursion by Ukraine into southwestern Russia, a local official reported Sunday.
Fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ran riot in east-central Sudan in a multi-day attack that killed more than 120 people in one town.
Voters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, started going to the polls Sunday in a mayoral race pitting incumbent Mayor Ricardo Nunes against lawmaker Guilherme Boulos.
How Iran chooses to respond could determine whether the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already destabilizing level of violence.
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RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says there has been a 鈥渟ignificant reduction鈥漷o the public safety threat since six Indian diplomatic officials were expelled from the country last week.
Minister Gary Anandasangaree has apologized to a group of Ontario First Nations for mismanagement of their money over a century ago.
Health Canada released an advisory last week that warns against the use of baby walkers available on eBay.ca, saying the products may pose a risk of injury and that baby walkers are banned in Canada.
Whole Foods Market is joining the growing list of brands whose frozen waffles have been recalled in Canada this week because of possible listeria contamination.
Angela Salvatore had been away from her father's hospital bedside for just over an hour when she says she got a frantic call from a nurse, pleading with her to calm him down.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has hosted the online competition since 2019 to raise awareness about the bat's ecological importance.
Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are cracking down on a troubling spread of child sexual abuse imagery created through artificial intelligence technology 鈥 from manipulated photos of real children to graphic depictions of computer-generated kids.
The search for a popular tortoise that went missing from his home in Piedmont is over after his owner said he came home.
'Venom: The Last Dance' showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting US$51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates.
Actor Timothee Chalamet made a surprise appearance at his own look-alike contest in Lower Manhattan on Sunday, a well-attended event that drew an order to disperse from police and at least one arrest.
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Natural gas producers in Western Canada have white-knuckled it through months of depressed prices, with the expectation that their fortunes will improve when LNG Canada comes online in the middle of next year.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says the world has become more prone to supply shocks which create more risks to inflation, but the central bank is in a better place to deal with them now that inflation is under control.
British chef Jamie Oliver is asking for help to solve the mystery of a missing award-winning cheddar, worth US$390,000.
With jaw-dropping big wall ascents and a life packed with adrenaline and adventure, climber Tommy Caldwell has had a career worthy of 鈥 and captured by 鈥 a feature film.
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The Indiana Fever fired coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the organization announced.
Real Madrid, the Spanish league and the local government condemned racist insults against Barcelona's player Lamine Yamal during Saturday's 'El Clasico.'
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An increased risk of fire has prompted the recall of thousands of Honda hybrid vehicles in Canada.
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Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
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With a provincial election announcement expected Sunday, Nova Scotia鈥檚 political party leaders have announced events.
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Queen鈥檚 District RCMP in Nova Scotia is investigating a single-vehicle fatal collision that occurred Saturday on Highway 103 in Port Mouton, N.S.
Winnipeg police are looking for a suspect after they say a man was attacked by someone with a machete early Friday morning.
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The Regina Thunder fell to the Okanagan Sun in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) semi-finals 鈥 as it attempted to secure a chance at the national title.
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Saskatoon fire crews responded to a major house fire on the 400 block of 24th Street West on Friday evening.
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Former U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper with a woman's first name in recent days as the Republican presidential nominee focuses his closing message on a hypermasculine appeal to men.
Victor Garber got teary-eyed when he walked into a brunch in his honour Sunday in London, Ont.
Trillium Care in Norwich, Ont. has announced they will be closing their facilities, citing 鈥渁n emergency lack of financial resources necessary to sustain daily operations.鈥
Two new interchanges have opened in St. Thomas, Ont. but one main artery is set to close Monday for construction.
Huntsville OPP and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are conducting a homicide investigation after three individuals were found dead in a Huntsville neighbourhood Friday evening.
Bracebridge OPP are searching for two suspects who allegedly broke into a Gravenhurst jewelry store early Saturday morning.
A man was charged after allegedly crashing into a parked OPP cruiser in Tay Township early Sunday morning.
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Police have charged a man with robbery after an incident Saturday afternoon in Chatham.
Donated and reusable household items piled up in trucks outside the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre Saturday afternoon in an effort to divert goods from the landfill.
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There were tense moments at a ferry terminal outside Victoria, B.C., on Friday after the lion鈥檚 share of standby spots on an early sailing were claimed by 鈥渁ssured loading鈥 passengers 鈥 leaving regular customers who had been waiting for hours out of luck.
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Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
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Teams are facing off in a new eastern Newfoundland hockey league aiming to bring competitive play 鈥 and a few extra years on the ice 鈥 for young women in the province.
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