Purdue’s Zach Edey outduels NC State’s DJ Horne, DJ Burns Jr. in Final Four win

Purdue big man Zach Edey continued his redemption tour with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance in a 63-50 Final Four win over DJ Horne, DJ Burns Jr. and North Carolina State on Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

The Boilermakers will face UConn for a national title on Monday.

Edey has now posted 20-point double doubles in eight straight games dating back to Purdue’s regular season finale. He played all 40 minutes in the win.

The big man who has won back-to-back National Player of the Year awards outdid the Wolfpack’s Horne and Burns combo, leading the Boilermakers to a national championship appearance one year after a first-round exit to 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.

The program is in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.

“It’s the one we’ve been talking about all year,” said Edey, who came back for his senior season after last year’s disappointment. “It’s the one we’ve been talking about for four years now, to be able to play in that, accept that challenge.”

Horne, an Arizona State transfer, carried much of his team’s offense, scoring 20 of his team’s 50 points on 8-of-21 shooting. He kept NC State close for much of the game, within six at the half and at points in the second.

Horne was making his return to the Valley after playing two seasons for the Arizona State Sun Devils. It was a return home of sorts after his transfer to NC State was a return to his original home of Raleigh.

“DJ’s a fighter, he believes in himself,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said this week. “When he gets going and starts making a couple shots, man, you better look out because he’s a dangerous guy. I think his confidence grows, his belief grows.”

Burns added eight points on 4-of-10 shooting and four assists in 27 minutes for the Wolfpack.

“The biggest difference is that some of the shots we normally make we didn’t make in that game,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said. “It kinda got away from us a little bit.”

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’s 36% shooting night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.