Tennessee falls to Purdue in Elite Eight

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - National Player of the Year finalists in Purdue’s Zach Edey and Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht will square off with a trip to the Final Four on the line inside Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.

After missing Friday’s Sweet 16 tilt against Creighton, Santiago Vescovi arrived at the arena in warm-up attire on Sunday.

Well this a good sign! Santi is dressed out in game gear and appears ready to play in today’s Elite-8 showdown with Purdue at 2:20pm on @wvlt and #CBS @WVLTSports pic.twitter.com/X6yWAT02OT

— Rick Russo (@wvltrick) March 31, 2024

Live updates of the game will begin at 2:20 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WVLT.

FIRST HALF

Zach Edey made his first shot of the game to open the scoring.

Josiah-Jordan James picked up where he left off after an impressive Sweet 16 performance, sinking Tennessee’s first three pointer to make the score 6-5 in favor of Purdue.

Tennessee took its first lead of the day on a pair of Jahmai Mashack foul shots to make the score 9-8.

Mashack was immediately subbed out for Santiago Vescovi, who made his first appearance in Detroit.

FIRST HALF | 15:41 | PURDUE 10, TENNESSEE 9

Tobe Awaka scored his first points of the night before a Dalton Knecht three pointer gave the Vols their largest lead at 13-9.

Edey REJECTED and it turns into a @Vol_Hoops triple 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/qecfnWFUsH

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2024

Knecht nailed another three to make the score 17-12 Tennessee.

FIRST HALF | 11:20 | TENNESSEE 17, PURDUE 14

The Boilermakers went on a 5-0 run out of the under-12 timeout to take the lead back at 19-17.

Josiah-Jordan James hit his second three in as many attempts as the Vols regained the lead at 20-19 before Zakai Zeigler extended the lead to four with a three of his own.

FIRST HALF | 6:10 | TENNESSEE 25, PURDUE 21

Out of the timeout, Dalton Knecht nailed his third three of the night to give Tennessee its largest lead at 29-21.

Knecht extended Tennessee’s lead to eleven at 32-21 with his fourth three of the night.

FIRST HALF | 5:11 | TENNESSEE 32, PURDUE 21

The Boilermakers went on a 6-0 run after a timeout to pull within five at 32-27.

Four straight Purdue free throws cut the lead down to one at 32-31.

Dalton Knecht tied the score at 34 with his first dunk of the night with under a minute remaining in the first half.

HALFTIME | PURDUE 36, TENNESSEE 34

First half stats are below.

Vols 7-13 from 3-point, Purdue just 1-8 from beyond the arc but still lead thanks to Zach Edey's double-double, 19 pts. and 10 reb. Biggest stat though is the big guy played almost the entire 1st half and was not called for one foul! That's problematic for @Vol_Hoops @wvlt

— Rick Russo (@wvltrick) March 31, 2024

SECOND HALF

After an early turnover led to Purdue points, Dalton Knecht scored five unanswered points to give Tennessee a 39-38 lead.

Purdue regained the lead on four consecutive Zach Edey points before Zakai Zeigler converted one of two foul shots to pull the Vols within a point at 41-40.

SECOND HALF | 15:52 | PURDUE 44, TENNESSEE 40

Jordan Gainey sunk a massive three pointer to cut the deficit down to two before Zakai Zeigler pulled the Vols within one on a layup off a Purdue turnover.

JG. BANG.
pic.twitter.com/qCcE4LMFVw

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 31, 2024

SECOND HALF | 11:39 | PURDUE 51, TENNESSEE 46

Jordan Gainey made his second three of the night to cut the Vol deficit down to three with 9:01 remaining before Dalton Knecht cut the deficit to one off a Jordan Gainey steal.

SECOND HALF | 8:45 | PURDUE 54, TENNESSEE 53

Dalton Knecht tied the game with his sixth three pointer of the night.

A JP Estrella alley oop tied things up once more with 5:14 remaining.

Tobe Awaka fouled out of the game with 4:42 remaining.

SECOND HALF | 3:56 | PURDUE 59, TENNESSEE 58

A Zach Edey dunk extended the Purdue lead to three before Lance Jones gave the Boilermakers a six point advantage with 2:26 remaining.

Zakai Zeigler kept the Vols alive with a layup to make the score 68-62 with 1:28 left.

Zach Edey blocked Dalton Knecht’s layup with less than a minute to go to ice things for Purdue.

FINAL | PURDUE 72, TENNESSEE 66

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