Purdue, Tennessee know anguish in hoops; only one will win elusive prize in Detroit

Detroit — For two teams without a real rich history in men's basketball, at least when it comes to going deep in the NCAA Tournament, Purdue and Tennessee sure look like they're treating their time in Detroit like a business trip.

To be sure, there's fun that's been had, and there's more fun to be had — certainly more for one team than the other Sunday evening — but for now, the eyes remain on that elusive prize: a trip to the Final Four.

For Purdue, it would be its first since 1980. For Tennessee, it would be its first ever, which doesn't seem possible.

"Grateful for the position that we're in, for the group of guys that we have here, but knowing that we want something even better. We want to be the last team standing," Tennessee fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James said Saturday, the off day between the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight at Little Caesars Arena.

"So, being able to be proud of where we're at and taking steps forward to that, but also knowing that it doesn't end here and having more hunger and more fight in wanting to make history."

No. 1 seed Purdue (32-4) plays No. 2 Tennessee (27-8) at 2:20 p.m. Sunday in the Midwest Regional final, with a bid to next week's Final Four in Phoenix on the line. It's a rematch of a game in November in Maui, where Purdue won, 71-67. In the Sweet 16 on Friday, Purdue beat Gonzaga, 80-68, in another rematch from Hawaii won by Purdue.

For what the Elite Eight match-up lacks in surprise, given it's a chalk regional final, it makes up for in intrigue about the head coaches, two men considered the best in the game, in Purdue's Matt Painter and Tennessee's Rick Barnes, but also men who've known their share of failure to meet expectations over the years.

Purdue's pain remains fresh, following a loss as a No. 1 seed to No. 16 Farleigh Dickinson in last year's NCAA Tournament opening round. It was one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history, and one that Painter and his players have had to answer for every day since the curtain fell on them in 2023. It's also one that Painter and his players have refused to ignore. They talk about it. It's fuel for 2024, as they're halfway to a national championship.

"Right now, it's everything to us. It's what's on our minds 24/7," said Purdue sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer, who grew up in Clarkston. "To see kind of these last few years, kind of how it's played out and how much work these guys in recent years have put in, it stinks.

"You just want to get the program, the university, everybody over that hump."

Painter has never made a Final Four. Purdue's last visit predates even his playing days in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Barnes has made just one, in 2003, at Texas, in his 16th season as a Division I head coach. He's now in his 37th year, spread out between Tennessee, Texas, Clemson, Providence and George Mason. Certainly, Barnes would've thought he'd have been to more than a single Final Four by now.

"Years ago, I didn't enjoy it as much, because I wanted to keep going further and further," Barnes said Saturday, when asked if he's allowed himself time to enjoy this run, in the moment.

"And with that, maybe in some ways, (you) put more pressure on guys than maybe they should have."

Barnes said he still isn't great at enjoying the moment, but you could see the wide smile across his face as he walked off the court Friday night, following an 82-75 victory over Creighton. That gave Tennessee just its second trip to the Elite Eight, and first since 2010.

"You're excited for those guys," Barnes said of his players, who, like with Painter's Purdue program, are mostly homegrown — and they're both proud of that — in this era of the transfer portal, "and yet excited for everyone involved."

Both programs come from rich basketball states, Tennessee put on the map by late women's basketball coach Pat Summit, whom Barnes paid tribute to in his press conference Saturday, and Purdue being smack dab in Indiana, which is kind of known for its hoops. "Hoosiers" wasn't about Oklahoma.

While Purdue is trying to make school history, its players also are carrying the banner for the state. Eleven players on Purdue's roster list Indiana as their home state, including two sophomore guards, in particular, Loyer and Braden Smith, who are from Indiana.

Loyer now is from Fort Wayne, and Smith from Westfield.

"You just kind of grow up with it, and it's just always been around, and it's been good here," said Smith, whose Purdue team is trying to be the first Indiana team to win a men's basketball national championship since Bob Knight's Hoosiers in 1987, and the first Indiana men's team to make the national-championship game since Butler went in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011. "Just seeing everything that Purdue has done through the years and how good they have been and just being a part of it ... I think there's a lot of people that deserve that.

"We work out butt off every year. I think winning would mean the most."

You could make the case that Purdue has the most ta, with 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, the reigning national player of the year, who's dominated college basketball for two years, including in three NCAA Tournament wins this season. There's no one on Tennessee that can look him squarely in the eye, so he's going to get his points and rebounds. The bigger key for the Volunteers might be stopping Loyer, Smith and fifth-year senior guard.

The key, too, Barnes said will be not to stray from the defensive game plan if, or more accurately when, Edey goes on his run, or runs.

This is a match-up of one of the top offenses in Purdue, and one of the top defenses in Tennessee. Something's gotta give, including somebody's Final Four drought — Purdue's at 40-plus years, and Tennessee's forever. Purdue is the favorite, will have the largest fan base, and will have the best player, with all due respect to Tennessee fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht, the SEC player of the year who scored 26 in the win over Creighton.

"Us being us, being dogs," Tennessee junior guard Zakai Zeigler said, "we can fight through it."

Said Painter, whose Boilermakers have had four Round of 64 exits in the eight NCAA Tournaments before this one "It's been our goal to win a national championship. We feel like we're halfway there. We've worked really hard for it.

"We've had some disappointing losses in the NCAA Tournament.

"You want to rectify that."

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984

Midwest Regional

No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Tennessee

▶ Tipoff: 2:20 p.m. Sunday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit

▶ TV/radio: CBS/1270

▶ Records: Purdue 32-4; Tennessee 27-8

▶ Series: Purdue leads, 4-2 (last meeting: Purdue, 71-67, Nov. 21, 2023)

▶ Line: Purdue by 3.5 points