LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Purdue wasn’t prepared for what was coming. The blowout losses in the past two Sweet 16s would have been better.
A 19-year Elite Eight drought was in place. An 18-point second-half lead was gone. Less than three seconds were left. No timeouts remained. The first option on the Boilermakers’ inbounds play was covered. A five-second violation drew near.
Then, Carsen Edwards desperately broke to the corner, fired for the win, and missed — but connected with the most important kick in school history.
With Tennessee’s Lamonte Turner flying by while contesting the shot, Edwards extended his leg to draw a controversial foul with 1.7 seconds left, and hit a pair of game-tying free throws to send the South Region semifinal to overtime and eventually give third-seeded Purdue a 99-94 win over second-seeded Tennessee at the KFC Yum! Center.
“I’d been complaining to the refs about that all night. Last play of the game, trying to contest the shot, he kicks his leg out, then his leg made contact with my body and they called a foul,” Turner said. “I don’t really understand what I’m supposed to do right there.”
Edwards did, sending Purdue (26-9) past the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000, and one win from its first Final Four since 1980.
Purdue’s Carsen Edwards looks to shoot over Grant Williams.AP“Yeah, I was fouled,” said Edwards, who became the first player since Steph Curry to score at least 25 points in four straight NCAA Tournament .games. “Just got an opportunity, stepped up to get us some more time to play.”
Just four days after the second-seeded Volunteers blew a 25-point lead and escaped the second round with an overtime win over Iowa, Tennessee similarly rallied back, only to watch its momentum also evaporate at the end of regulation.
Seeking just their second-ever berth in the Elite Eight, the Vols (31-6) failed to get a shot off before the buzzer in regulation and barely put up a fight in the extra session, ending a remarkable season in which they spent four weeks as the nation’s top-ranked team and also tied a school record for wins.
Purdue, which had lost in the Sweet 16 in its first four trips under Matt Painter and opened this season with five losses in its first 11 games, was headed to face the winner of No. 1 Virginia-No. 12 Oregon.
“Considering we haven’t been able to get over that hump … I’m happy for myself, happy for my guys and happy for Coach Paint,and it’s something we definitely worked hard for,” said Purdue senior Ryan Cline, who had a career-high 27 points. “A lot of people counted us out at the beginning of the year. I just keep preaching that, and we’re just going out and playing free.”
Purdue played with no pressure in hitting 16 of its first 26 shots and building the massive margin, but Tennessee knew no lead was safe.
While Edwards (29 points, 8-of-22 shooting) went cold, Tennessee senior Admiral Schofield scored 20 of his 21 points after halftime and sparked a game-tying 14-0 run, before giving the Vols its first lead since the opening minutes on a 3-pointer with 5:25 remaining.
Cline responded with 22 second-half points, and a series of timely and improbable 3-pointers — finishing 7-of-10 from deep — including the game-tying shot with 37 seconds left. Tennessee then took back the lead on a Grant Williams putback with 8.8 seconds left in regulation, and Williams blocked Edwards on the other end.
Soon, Edwards was at the line with 1.7 seconds left. He made two of three free throws to force the extra session. The Purdue star missed the biggest free throw of his life, then made up for it by making two that were even bigger.
“We were able to get out of that and get to overtime,” Painter said. “I think we had that relief.”
