DETROIT (AP) — 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 in a Midwest Region semifinal.

There were highlights galore in the No. 1-seeded Boilermakers’ 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 Tennessee, an 82-75 winner over Creighton later Friday. A win there would land the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.

“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.”

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.