NC State basketball’s charmed NCAA Tournament run ends with Final Four loss to Purdue

N.C. State’s latest opportunity to continue its magical postseason run arrived early in the second half against Purdue at the Final Four on Saturday night.

A nearly five-minute Boilermakers scoring drought presented a chance, only for the first time in a month, the Wolfpack couldn’t turn that chance into triumph.

N.C. State missed nine of its first 10 shots after halftime and Purdue overcame its own scoring woes to eventually push its lead to double-digits and hold on to beat the Wolfpack, 63-50, in an NCAA Tournament national semifinal basketball game at State Farm Stadium.

Behind 7-4 center Zach Edey’s 20 points and 12 rebounds, the Boilermakers (34-4) ended N.C. State’s nine-game winning streak that had carried the Wolfpack from a No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament to a league title and its first Final Four since 1983. But N.C. State’s magic ended as it shot only 37.5%, making just 27.8% (5 of 18) of its 3-pointers.

So the Boilermakers, in their first Final Four since 1980, advance to Monday night’s 9:20 p.m. NCAA Tournament championship game to play either reigning champion Connecticut or Alabama.

The Wolfpack (26-15) exits the tournament after one of the most amazing runs the event has seen. After winning five games in five days to claim the ACC championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, N.C. State rose from a No. 11 regional seed to the national semifinals.

But some of the elements that carried the Wolfpack there were missing against Purdue. DJ Burns, the 6-9 forward who won the nation’s hearts with his nimble moves for a big man, scored eight points on 4 of 10 shooting. He picked up his third foul with 18:28 to play and the Wolfpack trailing 39-29.

That’s when Purdue endured 4:50 without scoring. Burns scored inside before DJ Horne hit two free throws at 16:14 to leave N.C. State down 39-33.

But Burns went to the bench and the Wolfpack offense stagnated, too.

The teams combined to miss 10 consecutive shots and N.C. State went six consecutive possessions without scoring. Mason Gillis ended the drought for Purdue with a 3-pointer with 13:38 to play and Lance Jones hit another to give the Boilermakers a 45-33 lead with 12:44 to play.

But the Wolfpack were never closer than seven points the rest of the game and its underdog story ended.

Horne was N.C. State’s lone double-figure scorer with 20 points as the Wolfpack shot just 8 of 27 (29.6%) in the second half

In the first half, the Boilermakers needed less than 10 minutes of play to open a double-digit lead as they dominated play inside. Edey scored his 10th point when Purdue opened a 23-13 lead.

Edey’s two free throws at 6:29 boosted Purdue’s advantage to 28-16 and the Boilermakers appeared ready to take control.

But the Wolfpack received a boost from their reserves to piece together a 9-2 run. Two baskets from Breon Pass and a Horne jumper gave the Wolfpack a 6-0 run. After Edey tipped in a Fletcher Loyer miss, but Jayden Taylor responded with an NC State 3-pointer trimming the Purdue lead to 30-25.

After Trey Kaufman-Renn’s scored on a bank shot in the lane for Purdue, Horne hit jumpers on back-to-back Wolfpack possessions and N.C. State trailed 32-29 with 39 seconds left in the half.

Loyer hit a 3-pointer on Purdue’s final possession of the half, collecting a kick-out pass from Edey and swishing a shot that gave the Boilermakers a 35-29 halftime lead.