- The No. 3-ranked Purdue men's basketball team topped No. 18-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga, 80-68, to move to Sunday's Midwest Regional final.
- The Boilermakers won their 32nd game of the year and are now 32-4 on the season. The 32 victories are a continuing school record.
- Purdue now owns a 5-0 record all-time against Gonzaga, winning three games against the Bulldogs in the last 17 months. Gonzaga was ranked sixth, 11th and 18th in those three games.
- Purdue has won its first three games in the NCAA Tournament by a combined 79 points (78-50 vs. Grambling; 106-67 vs. Utah State; 80-68 vs. Gonzaga).
- Purdue is making its second Elite Eight appearances in five seasons, last making the Regional Finals in 2019 (lost to eventual National Champion Virginia in overtime). Prior to the 2019 season, the Boilermakers last made the Elite Eight in 2000.
- Purdue improved to 9-0 this season against nationally-ranked teams. They are the second team in the last 15 years to play at least nine games against nationally-ranked teams without a loss (2012 Kentucky; 10-0).
- Purdue has won 20 straight non-conference, regular-season and postseason games against power-conference OR nationally-ranked teams. It equals the second-longest streak in NCAA history, and is just behind the 22 straight by UCLA from 1971 to 1974. Duke (March 1991 to Feb. 1993) and UCLA (March 1968 to Dec. 1970) also won 20 straight games.
- Purdue is 18-5 (.783) against nationally-ranked teams since the start of the 2021-22 season, easily the best record in America (Arizona; 14-7).
- Since the 2020-21 season, Purdue is now 49-2 when shooting 50.0 percent or better from the field. Purdue shot 57.1 percent from the field, including 60.7 percent in the second half. Purdue went 15-of-21 (.714) inside the 3-point line in the second half.
- Purdue is now 39-4 since the 2020-21 season when having single-digit turnovers. Purdue had nine turnovers against Gonzaga.
- Purdue's 57.1 field goal percentage was its highest in the NCAA Tournament since 1999.
- Purdue is now 90-18 (.833) since the 2021-22 season.
- Purdue is 92-3 since the start of the 2017-18 season when scoring at least 80 points.
- Purdue is 25-4 this season against the KenPom top 100.
- Braden Smith recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds. The 15 assists are the third most in a game in school history and the 10th most by any player in the NCAA Tournament. It was tied for the most assists by a Big Ten player ever in an NCAA Tournament game (Indiana's Keith Smart; Ohio State's Aaron Craft).
- Smith joined Indiana's Keith Smart (March 14, 1987) and Murray State's Ja Morant (March 21, 2019) as the only players in NCAA Tournament history with at least 14 points, 15 assists and 8 rebounds.
- Braden Smith is the fourth player in NCAA history with at least 425 points, 270 assists and 200 rebounds in a season (UCLA's Lonzo Ball, BYU's Kyle Collinsworth, California's Jason Kidd).
- Smith moved into third place on the Big Ten's all-time single-season assists list with 271 (Cassius Winston – 291; Mateen Cleaves – 274).
- Zach Edey scored 27 points with 14 rebounds and an assist. He has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in four straight NCAA Tournament games, the second-longest stream in NCAA Tournament history (David Robinson – 5 games).
- In three NCAA Tournament games this season, Edey has 80 points, 49 rebounds and six assists. Edey joins Wake Forest's Len Chappell (1960) and West Virginia's Jerry West (1961) as the only players with at least 80 points, 45 rebounds and five assists in the first three NCAA Tournament games.
- Edey became Purdue's NCAA Tournament rebounds leader with 88 rebounds in eight games.
- Edey moved into third place on Purdue's single-season points scored list with 886 points. He is now fifth on the Big Ten single-season points list.
- Edey now has 2,419 career points, needing 19 points to tie Indiana's Steve Alford for fifth on the Big Ten career points list.
- Zach Edey tied Caleb Swanigan for second on Purdue's single-season rebounds list with 436, needing two rebounds to tie the school record he set last year (438).
- Zach Edey become the sixth player in NCAA history with at least 400 free throw attempts (402), and the first since Pete Maravich in 1970 (436).
- Zach Edey's 27 double-doubles are now the second most in a season in Purdue history, behind just the 28 he recorded last season.
- Edey become the 11th player in NCAA history with 875 points and 435 rebounds in a season – the first since Indiana State's Larry Bird in 1979.
- Edey became the fourth player in NCAA history with two seasons of at least 750 points and 425 rebounds (Elvin Hayes – 3; Rick Barry – 2; Oscar Robertson – 2).
- Fletcher Loyer scored 10 points and is now 15-of-22 (.682) from 3-point range in the month of March.
DETROIT -- They leaned on him. They jawed at him. One time, they slapped him right across the forehead. None of it came close to stopping Purdue's big man, Zach Edey, and now he and the Boilermakers are one win away from the Final Four.
The 7-foot-4 Edey withstood all the abuse Gonzaga could lay on him Friday night, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lift Purdue to an 80-68 victory over the Bulldogs.
There were highlights galore in the Midwest Region No. 1 seed's 32nd victory of the season, including a 14-point, 15-assist, eight-rebound masterpiece from guard Braden Smith.
No moment, though, told the story better than at the end of the first half when Edey had Gonzaga's Ben Gregg pinned underneath the basket. Gregg, in a desperation move to make a play, flailed at the ball and ended up roundhousing Edey full-on in the forehead with his open hand, picking up his third foul.
"It didn't feel good," Edey said to a room full of laughs. "Obviously, he was just trying to make a play for the ball, just missed it and whack-a-moled my head a little bit."
On Sunday, Purdue, which last year became history's second first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will play the winner of Friday's later game between Tennessee and Creighton. A win there would land the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
Smith finished two assists shy of joining Joe Barry Carroll — who played on Purdue's last Final Four squad — as the program's second player to record a triple-double. Smith made two of Purdue's seven 3-pointers in the first half, all of which forced Gonzaga into a choice no team wants to make — take away the 3s or sag down on Edey, the nation's leading scorer.
"It's pick your poison," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "They shot it great from 3, and then in the second half, we shut down that area pretty good. Then, Edey was just a load."
Once Edey got loose, foul trouble and an ever-shrinking basket ended the hopes for the fifth-seeded Zags.
Graham Ike had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who shot only 38% over the first 15 minutes of the second half and fell to 0-3 vs. Edey and the Boilermakers over the past two seasons.
As Purdue's lead mushroomed, the arena in Detroit sounded more like Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers, long seen as underachievers when the lights get bright in March, have a chance to play in April this time.
"We've had some experience in the tournament," coach Matt Painter said. "We've had disappointment, and I think any time you have that, you appreciate things a little bit more, and your attention is detail is a little bit better."
Like all Gonzaga big men, Ike spent the evening in foul trouble; he got his fifth and trudged off the court for good with 5:07 left. His second foul came halfway through the second half after he and Edey tussled in the paint, then jawed at each other after the ref's whistle. That didn't throw Edey off his game, either.
"I think he did a good job tonight of doing that — just keep your mouth shut and carry a big stick," Painter said.
Edey made one of two free throws there, but followed with a couple baby hooks as part of a 10-0 run that made this a 16-point game.
All par for the course for last season's AP Player of the Year, who pretty much has a double-double when he gets out of bed in the morning. He recorded his 27th of the season and 66th of his career at the 14:44 mark of the second half. The 10th rebound came on the offensive glass and was part of a five-shot trip down the court that Edey sealed with a jumper in the paint.
Edey finished the evening 10 for 15 from the floor and 7 for 10 from the line. He drew nine fouls, seven more than anyone else on his team. He didn't have a block but made things difficult on Gonzaga from his low spot in Purdue's zone — altering no fewer than a half-dozen shots in the second half.
GOOD COMPANY
With his 14 rebounds, Edey joined Elvin Hayes, Rick Barry and Oscar Robertson as the fourth player in NCAA history with at least two seasons of 750 points and 425 rebounds. Edey is trying to become the first player since Robertson in 1960 to lead the nation in scoring and reach the Final Four.
GOOD FINISH
Few said the loss couldn't obscure Gonzaga's strong finish to the season. After fearing they might miss the tournament altogether, the Zags won 16 of their last 19.
"They doubled down, and they showed their real character and competed and then got even closer instead of pulling apart," Few said.