Purdue Needs Overtime To Top Volunteers, 99-94

With time winding down in the second half, Lamonte Turner drove in an went for a layup to tie up the score 82-82. Tennessee‘s Grant Williams came up in front and blocked Turner’s shot. It bounced out. The refs debated the time remaining and resumed play.

Carsen Edwards, who’d scored 15 of his 29 points in the first half and became the Purdue Boilermakers’ all-time leading scorer in NCAA tournament games, heaved up a three. At first glance, he looked out of bounds. But with 1.7 seconds left, the refs sent him to the line with three shots. He missed the first but nailed the other two. Tennessee missed a last-second heave and the game went into overtime.

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While at one point it looked like the Boilermakers’ sweet 16 heartbreak was sure to continue, things took a turn at the KFC Yum! Center on Thursday night. They dominated in overtime and rode the ability of veteran leadership to their first elite eight appearance since 2000.

No. 3 seed Purdue wound up holding off the no. 2 seed Volunteers 99-94.

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Ryan Cline scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, despite foul trouble he hit clutch shot after clutch shot. As the Boilermakers were either tied or trailing in the last four minutes, he hit three three-pointers. He made his last eight shots before fouling out.

“Our guys hung in there,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “It was one of those games where, you know, getting key stops was important and I know it was a high scoring game. But it was tough to get them and I thought at the very end, especially in overtime, we got key loose balls, long rebounds and ended up being the difference in the game.”

Purdue will face no. 1 seed Virginia on Saturday. If they can win, they’ll reach the final four for the first time since 1980.

Article by Bill Piersa