Purdue big man Zach Edey scored a career-high 40 points, pulled down 16 rebounds, and had one huge block on Sunday as the Boilermakers defeated Tennessee 72-66 to force their way into their first Final Four since 1980.
In a back-and-forth drama between the best two players in the nation, the 7-foot-4 center willed his way to victory, holding off Tennessee’s All-American Dalton Knecht, who finished with 37 points.
With 33 seconds remaining and down by five points, Knecht drove to the hoop, but Edey knocked it away, capping the Vols’ wild chances of a comeback. Fittingly for this matchup.
The top-seeded Purdue (33-4) team booked the trip to Glendale, Arizona, putting behind them the great disappointment of last year—a first-round loss as the No. 1 seed. The Boilermakers’ national semifinal matchup against North Carolina State or Duke is scheduled for this Saturday.
Played in front of an ear-splitting crowd of Purdue supporters who traveled up from Indiana, this game was a scrapfest.
In addition to the game ball that Fletcher Loyer threw into the stands after the buzzer went off, they found the history they were searching for.
This game at times appeared to be a dusty old throwback, especially with Gene Keady, the school’s 87-year-old former coach, seated in the stands.
Edey was fed the ball by Purdue into the post, and although the swatty, grabby UT defense made some headway, blocking two of his shots, foul trouble mounted and Edey, though not quite, exhausted them. He made 13 of his 21 shots from the floor and was 14 of his 22 at the foul line.
Vols coach Rick Barnes was denied his second trip to the Final Four in his 38-year career, and Tennessee (27-9) was looking for its first one.
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