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The wait is over. Purdue defeats Tennessee for its first trip to Final Four since 1980
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- The wait is over. Purdue defeats Tennessee for its first trip to Final Four since 1980
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.
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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.
"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."
Purdue center Zach Edey (15) celebrates after the team's defeat of Tennessee in the Midwest Regional championship game in the 2024 NCAA men's tournament at Little Caesars Arena.
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.
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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.
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There were less whistles in this game. There were 37 fouls and Purdue had a 33-11 avantage in free throws.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Purdue defeats Tennessee to reach Final Four of March Madness
