Current:Home > StocksThe wait is over. Purdue defeats Tennessee for its first trip to Final Four since 1980 -Wealth Evolution Experts
The wait is over. Purdue defeats Tennessee for its first trip to Final Four since 1980
View
Date:2025-04-15 02:52:17
The wait is over for Purdue.
The Boilermakers earned their first trip to the Final Four since 1980 with a 72-66 defeat of Tennessee in the championship game of the NCAA men's tournament Midwest Region in Detroit.
Zach Edey led Purdue with a career-high 40 points and added 16 rebounds. He scored 14 consecutive points for the Boilermakers late in the second half to help stop multiple runs by the Volunteers. Lance Jones then hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to six with 2:43 left, and the Boilermakers held on from there.
Since its last appearance in the national semifinals 44 years ago, Purdue has won 11 Big Ten regular-season titles with Gene Keady leading the team for 25 seasons before his former player Matt Painter has been the last 19 years. But tournament success has been elusive. They only reached the Elite Eight three times before Sunday, the most recent in 2019 when the Boilermakers lost in overtime to Virginia.
Purdue also made some negative tournament history, becoming just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the first round when it fell to Fairleigh Dickinson last year.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
"All these guys have played so hard and worked on their games and put a lot of time in to it," Painter said. "And we had to sit in it. We had to take it. And sometimes when you sit in it and you're honest with yourself and you take it, some great things can happen."
Dalton Knecht had 37 points for Tennessee, but the Volunteers had no other scorers in double figures. Knecht and Edey were the first opponents to score 30 points in any game in the final three rounds of the tournament since 1990.
The loss denied the Volunteers their first trip in school history. The Volunteers were making their second appearance in the regional finals and first with coach Rick Barnes.
The first half went back and forth. Tennessee got off to an early lead with Knecht hitting four early shots, including two 3-pointers, to put the Volunteers up 17-12 with just under six minutes gone. Purdue responded with a 7-0 run as Tennessee went five minutes without a field goal. The Vols then went up 11 by scoring 15 of the next 17 points with Knecht adding two more threes. The Boilermakers strung together a 13-0 surge after its largest deficit and led 36-34 at the break.
Knecht had 18 points at the break. Edey managed 19 point and 10 rebounds, while Purdue, which entered leading the nation in 3-point percentage but were just 1-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half.
The matchup was the second of the season between teams. They met in November at the Maui Invitational semifinals and played a rough-and-tumble game that was tied with three minutes and eventually was won by Purdue 71-67. There were 51 fouls and 78 free throws in the contest.
There were less whistles in this game. There were 37 fouls and Purdue had a 33-11 avantage in free throws.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Fear of pregnancy: One teen's story in post-Roe America
- Khartoum's hospital system has collapsed after cease-fire fails
- Carmelo Anthony Announces Retirement From NBA After 19 Seasons
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Mass. Governor Spearheads the ‘Costco’ of Wind Energy Development
- Hunter Biden reaches deal to plead guilty to tax charges following federal investigation
- Deciding when it's time to end therapy
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Save $20 on these Reviewed-approved noise-canceling headphones at Amazon
Ranking
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $360 Tote Bag for Just $76
- What lessons have we learned from the COVID pandemic?
- When a prison sentence becomes a death sentence
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix Ready to Dip Out of Her and Tom Sandoval's $2 Million Home
- Paramedics who fell ill responding to Mexico hotel deaths face own medical bills
- Court Rejects Pipeline Rubber-Stamp, Orders Climate Impact Review
Recommendation
How breaking emerged from battles in the burning Bronx to the Paris Olympics stage
When a prison sentence becomes a death sentence
Lions hopeful C.J. Gardner-Johnson avoided serious knee injury during training camp
The Taliban again bans Afghan women aid workers. Here's how the U.N. responded
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Top CDC Health and Climate Scientist Files Whistleblower Complaint
Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $360 Tote Bag for Just $76
Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill reaches settlement following incident at a Miami marina