Day 8

The Vols built a double digit lead. Dalton Knecht couldn't miss. Then, for the last 5 minutes of the first half, they couldn't buy a bucket. Knecht couldn't throw it in the ocean. Purdue ended the half on a 15-2 run to lead at the half by 2. Knecht with 18 in the first (4-5 from deep). Edey with a double-double before the break: 19 and 10. Purdue 1-8 from downtown in the first.

Each fan base has reason for confidence and concern. Speaking of fans, the game was played in Detroit around 4 hours from West Lafayette. The whole town seemed to have made the trip. Impressed. Their chants were loud and frequent. The Purdue fans definitely gave the game a home feel. Tennessee seemed to turn their attention to Spring football already.

The Vols were physical with Edey, fronting him to try to deny the post pass. This was minimally effective, mainly resulting in Tennessee foul trouble. Edey fouled out Awaka and Mashak. He shot 22 free throws (hitting 14). Tennessee had no answers for Edey in the post as he scored 40 and pulled down 15 boards. Purdue only had one other player score in double figures (Loyer).

Similar story for Tennessee. Their star, Knecht, poured in 37 but no other Vols scored in double digits. Knecht was great but not transcendent. 14-31 from the field and some questionable drives against Edey. An Edey block of a Knecht drive in the lane under a minute to go basically ended the game. 

Purdue owned the boards, 47-26 (!).

Given all that, it's somewhat surprising that Tennessee kept it as close as they did, losing 72-66. They had a chance, but Knecht couldn't do it all by himself.

This is Purdue's second Final Four (1980).

Purdue coach Matt Painter prefers his big men to be huge. In recent years Purdue has consistently had guys 7’2” feet or more on the roster. Matt Harms, at 7’3”, was the tallest player ever in the Big 10. When Harms transferred to BYU, Painter found an even taller replacement: 7’4”, 305-pound Canadian (Toronto) Zach Edey, who is now a senior and reining player of the year (which he will repeat).

Edey grew up dreaming of playing in the NHL, not the NBA. It wasn’t his height that ended his hockey career; it was the fact that they couldn’t find skates for his size 20 feet. He then tried baseball, his father's sport, before finally settling on the hardwood as he grew steadily toward 7 feet. Not surprisingly, Purdue runs plays through the post more than virtually any team in the country.

Edey's mother, Julia, was at the game today. She actually moved to Indiana to support her son. She's 6'3". In her younger years, Julia Edey played basketball but particualrly excelled throwing the discus. A Toronto native, her parents were Chinese immigrants. She grew up in her parents' Chinese resturant in the Toronto suburbs. 

Price Blair, our resident UNC fan, would prefer that both NC State and Duke both lose. Failing that, he says it's an easy choice. Go Pack!

We spent Easter with Jean and Leni and the boys. Leni's niece, a Jersey girl, ended up at NC State. I learned about NC State cheering protocols from her. I didn't realize that their cheer involved hand puppets and howling.

Price also reports that he and NC State coach Kevin Keatts share the same hometown: Lynchburg, VA. They went to rival high schools. Keatts was a multi-sport athlete. Point guard in basketball and quarterback in football. The football team lost only once in his high school career.

Today marked the 257th meeting between NC State and Duke. This is the third time they've played this month! They split the other two. 

Both offenses were disjointed in the first half. It was ugly vs hideous. Duke was ugly, shooting 30% from the field and 28% from 3. However, they were perfect from the line (9/9). NC State was hideous, 26% from the field, 14% from 3 and they only got to the line 3 times (hitting 2). No one played particualrly well. No plays worked consistently for either side. The Packs' DJ Burns was effective in the post, as usual, but then he started shooting jumpers. That's not his game. McCain for Duke was the only guy in double figures (and they were mainly from the line). Duke 27-21 at the break.

NC State exploded for 55 in the second half to win by 10. How did we get there?

The Pack got the ball to Burns on the block and he punished Filipowski with his patented right spin move. Double teams? Didn't matter. Burns was a beast, finishing with 29 on 13 for 19 shooting. It was DJ squared with DJ Horne calmly running the team while chipping in 20.

NC State's Diarra picked up his fourth foul and was replaced by Middlebrooks. The tenor of the game immediately changed. State started getting all the 50:50 balls and got Filipowski in foul trouble (4th with just under 10 to go, fouled out with just under 5 remaining).

A cheap techical foul on Keatts for being out of the coaching box at the 8 minute mark. It seemed like it could be a turning point, but State stayed the course maintaining a double digit lead to the end.

Duke went to a press down the stretch, that State broke with relative ease.

Duke's freshman guard, Jared McCain, hit a bunch of 3s at the very end (he finished with 32). But it was too late.

NC State hasn't been to the Final Four since their magical run in 1983 under Jim Valvano when they (shockingly) won it all.

DJ Burns grew up mere miles from the NC State campus. He started his collegiate career at Tennessee and then Winthrop before transferring to his home state school. His parents supported him through the entire odyssey driving all around the country in an RV named Gladys to see their son play.