Purdue still too much for NC State in Final Four rematch; Boilermakers to face Ole Miss for title – San Diego Union-Tribune

Purdue’s 7-foot-4 Zach Edey, the two-time national player of the year, has moved on to the NBA. Still, Edey’s presence was felt Thursday afternoon at UC San Diego’s LionTree Arena.

Several Boilermakers fans wore Edey’s No. 15 jersey during the opening game of the Rady Children’s Invitational. Among them was a man who stood in his socks as Purdue coach Matt Painter walked off the floor after the 13th-ranked Boilermakers’ 71-61 victory over North Carolina State.

The guy was holding a shoe in one hand and a marker in the other, intending to get Painter’s autograph. The coach obliged.

Was the passion so great – or was it obsession? – Purdue fans turned out for the Final Four rematch against NC State.

The shoe was an apt metaphor for the Boilermakers a year after Edey led them to the title game. Big shoes to fill and so on.

“If you can stay the same and play the same way, that’s a nice thing, if you can just get people involved,” Painter said. “But sometimes you can’t get guys involved.”

Purdue may have another 7-4 big man on the roster, but freshman center Daniel Jacobsen watched from the bench on crutches. Jacobsen suffered a broken leg in the second game of the season.

NC State, which trailed by a point at 33-32, lost this time to a smaller, “poorer” lineup.

“If you take that away from us, I don’t know if we win the game,” Painter said. “What’s different for us is that we can miss blockout assignments (with Edey in the lineup) and still get rebounds because he would keep order. …

“His defensive figure is missed. That was our adjustment. …But also to make these guys feel like they don’t have to be him. Because they can’t be. He is a player of a generation.”

So they take advantage of the strengths of players like forwards Trey Kaufman-Renn and Camden Heide and defensemen Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.

Kaufman-Renn had a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds. Last year he totaled seven points and four rebounds against the Wolfpack. Heide, scoreless in the last meeting, had 15 points. Smith and Loyer also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Guard Jaden Taylor led NC State with 15 points.

Matches from day 2

Purdue (6-1) will face No. 23 Ole Miss (6-0) in Friday’s finale at 3 p.m. The Rebels needed overtime for a 96-85 victory over BYU in the second game of the tournament.

BYU (5-1) will face North Carolina State (5-1) in the third-place game at 12:30 p.m. Both games will be televised by Fox.

Trailing BYU 42-39 at halftime, Ole Miss led by as many as seven points midway through the second half, then watched the Cougars take the lead with 2:21 remaining on a late 10-2 run Recaptured 75:71.

Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray led all scorers with a career-high 28 points. Murray’s layup with 26 seconds left made the score 77-77 and forced overtime. He scored nine of his points in OT. Teammates Matthew Murrell and Dre Davis each scored 18 points for the Rebels.

Forward Kanon Catchings had 17 points for BYU. Egor Demin and Richie Saunders added 16 each for the Cougars.

Economic impact

When tournament organizers first proposed the event, they estimated it would generate 1,500 hotel nights for the community.

Ticket purchase zip codes for last year’s inaugural event showed that 28 percent of those who purchased tickets came from outside the county. As it turned out, it generated 3,000 room nights.

This year, 63% of ticket purchases came from outside the county, so overnight stays are likely to double. It remains to be seen how large the additional economic impact of the event will be.

With BYU on the field, we’re reminded of something Hall of Fame Cougars football coach LaVell Edwards mentioned when he brought the team to San Diego for one of his 11 Holiday Bowl appearances. Edwards said of BYU fans: “They’re going to bring the Ten Commandments and a $10 bill, and they’re not going to break any of them.”

Sign of the times

Davis, who started at guard for Ole Miss, picked up a game-winning nine fouls. He made 14 free throws at the line, making 10 of them.

Murray was a familiar face here, even when he stepped onto the starting line. At last year’s Rady Children’s Invitational, he was selected for all tournaments – for Seton Hall.

Training day

Purdue fan Avery Miller was standing outside LionTree Arena before the game, waiting for the doors to open, when a smartass came up to him and said, “Do you know there’s a train riding on your head?”

“I do,” Avery said, explaining that “it’s all about being part of the team.”

Purdue fans made up about 90% of the crowd at the opening game, taking advantage of the team’s rare visit to the West Coast.

In the stands were young fans in black and gold striped overalls.

Courtside seating included four men in matching outfits with white, black and gold diamonds.

A few seats away sat a man wearing a sparkly gold sequin jacket and tailcoat that looked like it had been purchased at a Ringling Bros. bankruptcy auction.

And of course there was a kid wearing a railroad hat.

“We feel bad for whoever is sitting behind us,” said Kristin Miller, Avery’s mother.

In fact, the Millers, visiting from Boulder, Colorado, were quite polite and left the foam locomotive on their laps during the game.

“Obviously we don’t see a lot of Purdue games in Colorado, so this is really cool,” Kristin said.

She was also kind enough to explain the school’s nickname, which comes from its history of railroads and steam engines.

“Boilermakers were tough guys, burly guys who built the trains that ran from Monon, Indiana to West Lafayette,” Kristin said.

Legend has it that Purdue recruited these “burly” guys to the football team in the 1890s.

Kristin added, “I think (the nickname) still embodies the Boilermaker spirit of being tough and playing really hard and playing with heart.”

Originally published: November 28, 2024 at 5:59 pm PST