Start time, TV set for No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Purdue in the Elite Eight
DETROIT — No. 2 Tennessee’s game against No. 1 Purdue on Sunday in the Elite Eight will be a 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time start on CBS at Little Ceasars Arena in the Midwest Regional final. The Vols advanced with an 82-75 win over No. 3 Creighton late Friday night.
Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest, advanced with an 80-68 win over No. 5 Gonzaga in Friday’s early game. The Boilermakers opened as a 3.5-point favorite over the Vols, according to BetOnline.
Tennessee (27-8) is back in the Elite Eight for just the second time in program history. The Vols beat Ohio State in the 2010 Sweet 16 before losing to Michigan State in the Elite Eight in St. Louis. Purdue (32-4) has not been to a Final Four since 1980.
Tennessee in Elite Eight for second time in program history
“I really thought both teams played their hearts out,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after the win over Creighton, “played really hard. What you would expect, obviously, this time of year. The stuff that Coach (Greg) McDermott does with his team, they’re an extremely, extremely hard team to guard.
“Really proud of the effort defensively. Again, they do a lot of things that are really difficult. Also, we made a run, and this time of year you expect them to make a run, which they did. But really proud of the way our guys stayed with each other, did what we had to do.”
Dalton Knecht scored a team-high 24 points to lead Tennessee, which used an 18-0 run in the second half to change the game. Zakai Zeigler added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds and Josiah-Jordan James had 17 points as the Vols won despite missing fifth-year senior Santiago Vescovi due to an illness.
Creighton (25-10) got 25 points from Baylor Scheierman, 16 from Steven Ashworth, 14 points from Ryan Kalkbrenner and 13 from Trey Alexander.
Zach Edey led Purdue with 27 points, 14 rebounds in win over Gonzaga
Zach Edey had 27 points and 14 rebounds in 38 minutes to lead No. 1 Purdue in its win over Gonzaga on Friday. Braden Smith scored 14, Lance Jones had 12 and Fletcher Loyer added 10.
Tennessee lost 71-67 against Purdue on November 22 in the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. Loyer scored 27 in the win and Edey had 23 and 10. Knecht had 16 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes and Jordan Gainey had 15 points in 25 minutes off the bench.
“We played Purdue earlier in the year. It was a loaded field in Honolulu,” Barnes said. “Hard-fought game, it really was. We’ll get back at it with them.
“… Right now it’s a mental prep, and we know that. Again, we obviously have great respect for Purdue, and we’ve played them. But they’re much better, and I’d like to think we are too.”
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