NC State discovers Purdue’s kryptonite, but Jones, Loyer too hot for Wolfpack to handle

For just the second time in school history, the Purdue Boilermakers will play for a national championship on Monday night after advancing past NC State in the Final Four.

Zach Edey finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting, but the story of the night for the Boilermakers was distance shooting from Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones, who were a combined 7-14 from downtown.

Story of the first half

Purdue looked like the more comfortable team from the opening tip, asserting their gameplan immediately with an onslaught of post touches to Edey and Trey Kaufman-Renn. NC State appeared tiny and flustered by comparison in the game’s opening possessions.

Soon enough, the Wolfpack’s DJ Burns calmed the storm with two beautiful assists, first a backdoor bounce pass to DJ Horne for a layup, and a few plays later, an impressive find to Michael O'Connell for a morale-boosting corner three for NC State. 

A trio of early turnovers from Purdue’s sophomore point guard Braden Smith—including two cringey backcourt violations—signaled an area for NC State to continue exploiting. For whatever reason, the Wolfpack didn’t take advantage of this opportunity right away. Rather than rev up the ball pressure, NC State guard Casey Morsell applied only slight force on Smith’s airspace, who was able to re-establish a rhythm of easy post passes to Edey.

As the first half progressed, it became clear that NC State’s bigs were powerless against Zach Edey gaining ideal position on the low block. The Wolfpack’s only hope was going to be to put mega pressure on Purdue’s guards to delay the inevitable post feed, minimizing the time of possession and maybe forcing Edey to rush after the catch. Yet, for the majority of the rest of the half, NC State didn’t apply enough pressure on Smith or Fletcher Loyer for this strategy to manifest.

After another unmolested post entry to Edey, Burns picked up his second personal foul on a phantom call with 6:29 remaining in the first half.

However, in a turn of events, NC State’s guards suddenly took it upon themselves to keep their team in the game.

Down 25-15, NC State’s Horne, along with bench guards Jayden Taylor and Breon Pass immediately powered a 9-2 run for the Wolfpack.

More importantly, Taylor instantly established himself as the most effective defender of Braden Smith due to his length and effort, forcing Smith into a fourth turnover around the 1:30 mark, which resulted in a Horne jumper on the other end.

On the following Purdue possession, Jayden Taylor doubled down on Edey and appeared to strip the Goliath clean but was called for a foul.

Purdue’s Kryptonite: Ball Pressure

Braden Smith finished the first half with five turnovers and zero points. NC State had identified Purdue’s kryptonite, and Jayden Taylor had revealed himself as the perfect defender to put a wrench in Smith’s point of attack, thereby delaying Purdue’s entire half court scheme.

Nonetheless, Purdue led 35-29 at halftime, with Fletcher Loyer’s two crucial threes representing the difference. Edey finished the half with 14 points and 8 rebounds but also had 3 turnovers. Horne (13 points), Pass, and Taylor carried the Wolfpack offense with a combined 22 of NC State’s 29 points.

Although NC State’s starting guard Michael O’Connell appeared banged up and severely limited after a violent fast break tumble, the resulting increased role of Jayden Taylor into the gameplan appeared to be a blessing in disguise for the Wolfpack.

Story of the second half

Entering the final twenty minutes, NC State was going to have to apply ridiculous ball pressure, force turnovers, and make perimeter shots to win this game. The Wolfpack had to accept their severe losses on the glass (Purdue ultimately won the boards battle 41-28 for the game) and rely on their guards to outplay Smith, Loyer, and Purdue’s other guard rotational guard, Lance Jones.

Unfortunately for NC State, Loyer and Jones were not going to let that happen.

Initially, things were looking up for the 'Pack. Purdue suffered a flurry of turnovers at the start of the half, giving NC State life. Edey was stripped again for his fourth turnover around the 16-minute mark, amounting to twelve turnovers already at that point for the Boilermakers.

Edey finished the game with five turnovers and was stripped on multiple occasions. NC State will look back on this game and be happy with the job they did on Edey.

In the end, however, Purdue’s 3-point shooting firepower proved too lethal for NC State to match.

Purdue established a 45-33 lead, their largest of the game yet, on a Lance Jones triple with 12:40 to play. As Edey started to feel more and more pressure from NC State’s guards, he did an admirable job of kicking the ball back out to Purdue shooters, who increasingly found their stroke. Lance Jones ended up hitting four triples in this game to go along with three from Fletcher Loyer and two from Mason Gillis.

Loyer’s 3-pointer at the 4:36 mark was the dagger for NC State, and then Braden Smith added insult to injury with another 3-ball on the very next possession. Purdue’s ticket to the title game was punched.

Purdue shot 10-25 from 3 (40%) for the game. NC State simply didn’t hit enough shots themselves (5-19 3P, 26.3%) to keep pace in the second half. DJ Burns finished with 8 points and 4 assists, as he was unsurprisingly neutralized by Edey’s presence in the paint. Such a performance does not take away from Burns’ magnificent run this March.

The Purdue Boilermakers have played for the national title just once before in their history, losing to John Wooden’s UCLA in 1969.

To have any chance at glory on Monday, Purdue’s guards will need to take much better care of the basketball. NC State may have fallen short of their own chance at history, but they absolutely went down fighting and exposed Purdue’s most glaring weakness in the process.