'We had to take it': Purdue's redemption tour heads to the Final Four, behind Edey's 40 points
Tony Paul
Detroit — No ladder necessary. That's all you need to know.
Zach Edey is big, big, big, and played even bigger in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional championship, scoring a career-high 40 to go with 16 rebounds to lift Purdue past Tennessee, 72-66, on Sunday in what arguably was the most entertaining basketball game in the history of Little Caesars Arena.
As the final seconds ticked away, Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer chucked the ball toward the rafters.
Moments later, while cutting down the nets, Edey stepped away and didn't bother using the ladder, snipping his piece while standing on the court, as his teammates cheered, and photographers snapped away.
Purdue (33-4), the top seed in the regional, is heading to its first Final Four since 1980.
Last season, the Boilermakers suffered one of the greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, as a No. 1 seed falling to No. 16 Farleigh Dickinson in the opening round. Purdue has had to hear about it every day since, but Edey and Co., in beating a relentless Tennessee team, the No. 2 seed, are starting to shush the critics.
"We had to sit in it. We had to take it," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said, moments after the victory, as players and coaches started to gather up championship swag and head toward the podium for the trophy ceremony.
"Sometimes, when you sit in it and you're honest with yourself and you take it, some great things can happen."
Purdue's road to Glendale, Ariz. — where it will face N.C. State in the Final Four on Saturday — began when Edey, the 7-foot-4 dynamo from Toronto, decided to come back for his senior season, after he was national player of the year in 2023. He became a two-time All-America this season and two-time Big Ten player of the year.
But for all the dominant performances this season, he saved his best for the bright lights of Detroit, especially in the second half, when if he wasn't making field goals, he was shooting free throws. He was 13-for-21 from the field, and 14-for-22 from the free-throw line. He outscored the rest of his teammates, 40-32.
And they're just fine with that.
"Yeah, Zach," said Purdue senior guard Lance Jones, "his game speaks for itself. One thing I really like about Zach, he's humble. He doesn't brag about what he does and what he's capable of doing.
"He just goes out there, he works, he puts his head down. You know, he's a great teammate."
In the four NCAA Tournament games, Edey is averaging 30 points and 16.3 rebounds. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Midwest Regional, and would've made a case even if Purdue had lost — which would've just crushed most of the 18,577 fans that piled into LCA, with maybe 70% or more of them squarely in the Boilermakers' corner, here in Big Ten country.
Late in the game, as Purdue seized command, the crowd was on its feet and roaring its approval for a team that's had high seeds before, but has had its share of NCAA Tournament disappointment in the Painter era. Some fans took to calling the Boilermakers "Pur-don't."
To Purdue's credit, they never hid from it, especially after last year's heartbreak. They got back in the gym, got tougher — mentally maybe even more than physically — and vowed to do better the next time. Purdue seems on a mission to replicate what Virginia did in 2019, when the Cavaliers won a national championship, a year after they became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16, falling to UMBC.
"It's been a long journey," said Edey, who gave his piece of the net to legendary Purdue coach Gene Keady as he walked off the floor. "To kind of end of where I am now, it's amazing.
"But we still have a lot of basketball left to play."
Two more wins and Purdue will claim its first men's basketball national championship. Tennessee (27-9) was looking for its first trip to the Final Four, and head coach Rick Barnes' second.
And Tennessee senior guard Dalton Knecht, a former JUCO player, nearly made it happen, practically matching Edey blow for blow in a game that had the intensity and swings of a heavyweight boxing match.
Knecht scored 37 for the Volunteers and was 6-of-12 on 3-pointes, though he missed his last three attempts, while Edey might've made the play of the game without making a bucket. With Purdue up, 69-64, with about 30 seconds left, Knecht drove the lane for a chance to pull Tennessee within one score.
But Edey blocked it, swatting it away with authority, sending the Purdue faithful into an absolute frenzy.
"The fact is, he went in there and battled against (the) player of the year in college basketball. It's a great experience," Barnes said of Knecht, who was the SEC player of the year.
"I knew our guys would fight. I really am proud of the effort. We still had a chance all throughout.
"The big play was the block. Edey made a great block."
The block looked angry, and perhaps it was. Edey had just missed two free throws on the other end.
Purdue never trailed in the last 19-plus minutes, but wasn't able to pull away until the final moments. It took a 54-46 lead on an Edey left-handed layup with 10:50 left, before Knecht made an alley-oop layup, followed by a 3 from Tennessee junior guard Jordan Gainey.
A Purdue turnover led to a Knecht fastbreak bucket, pulling Tennessee within 54-53, capping a 7-0 run.
After another left-handed layup from Edey, Loyer grabbed it but slipped, turning it over and Knecht drained a 3 to tie it at 56.
"You can't allow him to get to his sweet spots," Painter said of Knecht, who might've just played his way into the NBA Draft lottery. "You've got to have discipline."
Edey and Knecht traded buckets again to make it 58-all, before Tennessee sophomore forward Tobe Awaka fouled out with 4:42 left. He was key to guarding Edey, as was junior forward Jonas Aidoo, who had his struggles with Edey, not that he's in very exclusive company there. Tennessee, which saw Edey post 23 points and 10 rebounds in a matchup between the teams earlier this year in Maui, wanted to make Edey get the ball farther from the basket. Sometimes, Tennessee succeeded; sometimes it didn't, and Edey made the Vols pay repeatedly, in either scenario.
Edey made another layup to make it 63-60, Knecht missed a 3 on the other end, and Jones drilled a 3 — his only one of the game, and just Purdue's third to make it 66-60 — with about 2:30 to go.
Tennessee was called for 25 fouls, to 12 for Purdue, a differential almost as stark as Maui, where Tennessee was called for 30 fouls, leading to 48 Purdue free throws, in Purdue's 71-67 win in November.
Edey, who made 14 of 22 free throws, didn't pick up his first foul until there was less than 10 minutes, drawing a sarcastic cheer from the Tennessee crowd. Edey made two free throws to make it 68-60 with under two minutes left and ran down the court waving his hands to a Purdue crowd that could start to feel the 44-year wait to get back to the Final Four was about to come to an end.
Barnes repeatedly said after the game he had no qualms with the officiating.
"You've got a very unique player in Zach Edey," Barnes said. "It's a hard game to officiate."
Barnes did say, though, that the way the game is called can have an effect on players, and Tennessee players showed their frustration at times.
Purdue was up five with about 30 seconds left when Edey delivered his block, and Purdue made three of its last four three throws — two by Loyer (14 points), one by Edey — to ice the game.
The first half was a game of runs, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Knecht, putting Tennessee up, 32-21, with 5:11 left, forcing a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers came storming back, with a 13-0 run of their own, as the Volunteers went more than four minutes without scoring, until Tennessee got a steal and Knecht took the ball down for a fastbreak dunk. Purdue led, 36-34, at halftime, with Edey, the latest in a long time of quality Purdue big men, recording yet another double-double in the first 20 minutes with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
"All summer, we fought hard. It shows how mentally tough everyone is, how mentally tough the staff is," Loyer said. "It's not easy to do what we just did.
"To play in a game of that caliber is impressive. I'm proud of these guys. Tennessee played great, and they played hard. We played a little bit harder, and that's what we've got to keep doing."
For the game, sophomore guard Braden Smith had nine points and seven assists for Purdue, while junior guard Zakai Zeigler had nine points and eight assists for Tennessee, which shot just 38.7% for the game. Purdue outrebounded Tennessee, 47-26, including 13-6 on the offensive end. Edey shot 13-for-21.
With two more wins, the Boilermakers can become the Big Ten's first national champion in men's basketball since Michigan State in 2000
Purdue will play N.C. State (26-14) in the Final Four on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., after No. 11 seed N.C. State beat No. 4 Duke, 76-64, later Sunday to keep the Wolfpack's amazing postseason renaissance going. Defending champion Connecticut and Alabama will meet in the other national semifinal.
"To be able to get to a Final Four is a dream come true for me as a coach and for these guys," said Painter, who played for Keady, 87, who took the reigns at Purdue in 1980, just after the Boilermakers' last and only Final Four trip.
Said Loyer: "What this means to us and our school and all the people that support us, I can't even put it into words."
Final Four
SATURDAY
▶ No. 1 Connecticut (35-3) vs. No. 4 Alabama (25-11), 6:09, TBS/TNT/TruTV
▶ No. 1 Purdue (33-4) vs. No. 11 N.C. State, 8:49, TBS/TNT/TruTV
MONDAY, APRIL 8
▶ Championship game, 9:20, TBS
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