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NCAA Tournament Preview: #3 Purdue vs #6 Tennessee

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•03/30/24•

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Purdue's Zach Edey
Purdue's Zach Edey (Chad Krockover)

DETROIT — Purdue is 40 minutes away from its first Final Four in a generation, but they will be 40 (at least) arduous minutes, as another grinder vs. Tennessee might be in order. These two programs have had a funny way of crossing paths often, this time with the highest stakes yet.

DETAILS: Sunday, March 31, 2024 | 2:20 p.m. ET | TV: CBS (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Evan Washburn) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (32-4): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
TENNESSEE (27-8): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

TeamAPCoachesNETKenPomKenPom Win%
Purdue333360%
Tennessee667640%

THREE THINGS ABOUT PURDUE

• Purdue won a grotesque 71-67 game against Tennessee at the Maui Invitational in November, a game in which 51 fouls were called. Neither team wants to see that again.

Fletcher Loyer scored 27 points that day, burning Tennessee’s aggressiveness on the perimeter by getting into the lane or all the way to the basket. Despite being just 9-of-17 at the line, Zach Edey scored 23.

Purdue won despite turning the ball over 16 times, missing 19 free throws and shootig just 6-of-30 in the first half (but then 54 percent in the second). It was one of the Boilermakers’ worst offensive games of the season, even with the second-half resurgence. Purdue scored 19 second-chance points.

Tennessee led by as many as nine in the first half; Purdue led by as many as eight in the second.

• Purdue’s won its three NCAA Tournament games by an average of 26.3 points.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME

• Tennessee is third nationally, per KenPom, in defensive efficiency. Purdue is 6-0 this season against top-10 defensive-efficiency teams, though. Zakai Zeigler is considered one of the better defensive guards in the country. Opponents shoot only 44 percent from two-point range vs. the Vols.

• Dalton Knecht is the only other player in college to really gain any credible mention as a Player-of-the-Year candidate outside of Zach Edey.

A big, physical, quick-trigger shooter and multi-level scorer, Knecht averages a little more than 21 points per game and is deadly in space. He scored 16 points against Purdue in Hawaii, but that was so long ago, just his fifth game with the Vols. He only took eight shots that day. He’ll at least double that Sunday.

• Coach Rick Barnes took Texas to the Final Four in 2003 — beating Purdue in Birmingham along the way — but Tennessee has never made the final round.

TURNOVERSDALTON KNECHTGARBAGE POINTS
Now more than ever. This has been the one thing that has gotten Purdue beat this season, and now one of the fiercest defensice teams in America stands between Purdue and the Final Four.He is going to score, maybe a lot. Might just be a matter of making him take a lot of shots to do it and trying to make sure no one else beats you.Offensive rebounds and transition scores matter more against teams like the Volunteers.

GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 76, TENNESSEE 71

There’s been sort of an air of inevitability around Purdue most of this season. The Boilermakers know what they’re getting into against this outstanding Tennessee team and it’s tough to see them falling short now.

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