Purdue Finally Exorcises Its Round of 16 Demons by Beating Tennessee

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s a round that had stymied Purdue for the past two seasons. In 2017, the Boilermakers were blown out in the regional semifinals by Kansas. A year later, Texas Tech dashed Purdue’s hopes in the very same round.

But on Thursday night in Louisville — in an absolute thriller before a spirited crowd — that elusive victory proved sweet for the Boilermakers.

Purdue, which frittered away an 18-point lead over the course of a remarkable second half, managed to survive in grueling, agonizing, but ultimately exhilarating fashion — defeating Tennessee by 99-94 in overtime.

This was a tale of two games wrapped into one. The first featured careless shots, missed free throws and sloppy play. The second, conversely, showcased the game at its finest — with both clubs making everything in sight, showing the determination and grit which allowed them to reach this point in the N.C.A.A. tournament.

“Our guys hung in there,” Purdue Coach Matt Painter said.

He was particularly proud of a few key defensive stops, saying “I know it was a high scoring game. But it was tough to get them.”

The Boilermakers took command early. With the game tied, 13-13, Purdue took command of a choppy first half behind a 10-0 run. Carsen Edwards, who had been silenced for the first 7 minutes of the contest, caught fire — reeling off 8 points in a span of 4 minutes 38 seconds, starting a run that culminated in a game-high 29 points.

The Volunteers failed to find any sort of rhythm offensively in the first half. A missed dunk by Admiral Schofield midway through the first half served as a fitting symbol of Tennessee’s offensive futility over the first 20 minutes, as the Volunteers went into the locker room at halftime down by 40-28.

It appeared to be the same story early on in the second half. Purdue extended its margin to 18 within the first 4 minutes. The throngs of orange-clad fans in the crowd — having made the relatively short drive from Knoxville — appeared utterly despondent.

But then their Volunteers came storming back. An 11-3 run cut the margin to 9, before an Edwards 3-pointer coming out of a timeout momentarily stemmed the tide. Tennessee, though, kept up the momentum. Schofield, who had just 1 point in Tennessee’s woeful first half, finished the night with 21.

Lamonté Turner buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 65-65. And from there, the two determined squads put on a show. Suddenly, the offensive ineptitude that peppered the first half had been replaced by brilliance.

Purdue’s Ryan Cline went 10-of-13 on the night, and 7-of-10 from 3-point range, en route to 27 points. None, though, were bigger than his turnaround 3-pointer to tie the game 80-80 with 38 seconds to play.

Tennessee, though, took the lead on the next possession. A Grant Williams dunk off a miss by Turner put the Volunteers up 82-80.

Down by 2, Edwards drove to the basket and was blocked by Williams with 2.5 seconds to play. The ball went out of bounds, and there was some question as to whether it went off Edwards’s foot — resulting in a turnover which would have effectively ended the game. But the officials gave Purdue the ball.

Williams, for his part, was unsure who last touched the ball.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Williams said. “When I blocked the shot, I didn’t know if it went off me or his leg or anything.”

Edwards proceeded to get the ball again. He launched a 3-pointer from the right wing, and was fouled.

The foul was a huge call in Purdue’s favor, but Tennessee’s Coach Rick Barnes acknowledged that the officials got it right.

“We know the rule,” he said. “You’ve got to allow the shooter to come back down. It’s a tough one, because in that situation, we know we can’t foul there and they’ve got to make that shot.”

And so Edwards, his team’s leading scorer, stepped to the line with a chance to put his club ahead with 1.7 seconds to play. An 85.2 percent foul shooter, Edwards missed the first — to the roar of the Tennessee faithful. But Edwards turned aside the earsplitting noise and calmly sank the second and third free throws to square the contest at 82-82. Tennessee failed to get off a shot on the ensuing possession, and the game went to overtime.

The extra period belonged to the Boilermakers. It was a session in which they never trailed. With less than two minutes to play, the No. 3 seed put the game away, as Grady Eifert delivered a perfect pass to Matt Haarms — who had a step on his defender and was cutting toward the basket — to put the Boilermakers up 7. They made enough free throws the rest of the way to put the game on ice, giving Coach Matt Painter’s squad a victory that was three years in the making.