Purdue pushes Tennessee out of the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight, 72-66

DETROIT — Tennessee basketball wasn’t 40 minutes away from a trip to the Final Four Sunday afternoon. The Vols were an impossible 7-foot-4, 300 pounds away from the flight to Phoenix. Purdue center Zach Edey was in the way and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Edey scored 40 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and singlehandedly put Tennessee’s roster in foul trouble in the Elite Eight at Little Caesars Arena, as the Boilermakers won 72-66 to end the season for the Vols one win short of a first-ever Final Four bid in the Midwest Regional final.

Dalton Knecht’s legendary one-and-done run ended with the star transfer wing trying to out-duel Edey, scoring 37 points in the loss to lead Tennessee (27-9). Josiah-Jordan James scored eight and Zakai Zeigler had nine points, eight assists and four rebounds, but went just 3-for-11 from the field, including 1-for-7 from the 3-point line.

Edey scored his 40 points on 13-for-21 shooting from the field and went 14-for-22 at the foul line in the one-man show for Purdue (33-4). Fletcher Loyer added 14.

Edey broke a 58-58 tie and scored the go-ahead point by hitting one of two free throws with 4:42 left, fouling out Tobe Awaka in the process, then added two more at the 3:56 mark, after drawing a third foul on James. Lance Jones hit a three with with 2:42 to go to extend the lead to six.

Edey scored at the rim to put Purdue up eight with just under 11 minutes left, but the Vols reeled off seven straight over 79 seconds to get the deficit back to one as Purdue called timeout. Knecht tied it just under two minutes later on a corner three after a near turnover turned into a loose ball scramble. 

Jonas Aidoo picked up his third foul with 16:59 left and was replaced by Awaka, who was sitting with two fouls. Awaka picked up his third foul 10 seconds after replacing Aidoo, then had his fourth foul at the 14:03 mark.

Vols trailed 36-34 at halftime after leading by as much as 11 points

Tennessee led by 11 with 5:11 left in the first half, but Purdue went on a 13-0 run and closed the half by scoring 15 of the final 17 points before the break, taking a 36-34 lead into halftime.

Edey scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half and was the only starter in the game not to be called for a foul. 

Knecht scored 18 points in the first half, going 7-for-14 from the field and 4-for-5 from the 3-point line. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from three after hitting back-to-back 3-pointers at the 5:55 and 5:11 marks, with the second putting Tennessee up 32-21 and forcing a Purdue timeout.

The Boilermakers scored 13 straight over the next three minutes, 41 seconds to erase the deficit and retake a 33-32 lead. Knecht dunked with 41 seconds left in the half to snap the scoreless streak of four minutes, two seconds. 

What’s Next: The offseason ahead for Tennessee

Tennessee fell to 0-2 in its second Elite Eight appearances in program history, following a 70-69 loss to Michigan State in 2010 in St. Louis.

The Vols beat No. 15 Saint Peter’s 83-49 in the first round in Charlotte and beat No. 7 Texas 62-58 in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16. They used an 18-0 run in the second half Friday to beat No. 3 Creighton 82-75 for just the second Sweet 16 win in program history, after going 1-8 in their first nine appearances in the round of 16.

Offseason rosters questions will begin immediately. Tennessee is set to lose three fifth-year seniors in Knecht, James and Santiago Vescovi. There’s potential, as there is with every college basketball program, that the Vols could lose players to the NCAA Transfer Portal, as well.