The matchup is set.
Here we go — it’s Tennessee against Purdue for a trip to the Final Four. The Volunteers got past Creighton on Friday night, and now meet a familiar foe in the form of the Boilermakers. It’s just the second trip to the Elite Eight for Tennessee in school history, and they’ll be looking to make their first ever appearance in the Final Four.
It’s a rematch of the Maui Invitational, where Purdue got the better of Tennessee. It was just a four point win for the Boilermakers, with the difference being a whopping 48 attempts from the free throw line. Tennessee will be looking to slow down Zach Edey and company today, throwing Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka at him in the paint.
“I think, when you look at Zach Edey from a coach’s standpoint and players too, you appreciate when someone gets better the way he has,” Rick Barnes said this week. “He’s gotten better and better every year. He runs. We like to think you could get guys tired, but I think he moves extremely well. I think that’s the difference in where he was a couple years ago. He’s really been able to move. He’s a good screener, but he knows exactly on the court where he wants to get his space and where he wants to set up, and they do a great job of getting it to him when he gets there.
Tennessee got good production from Zakai Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James on Friday, which took the pressure off of Dalton Knecht, who still scored 26 points. The Vols will need that to happen again to take down the Boilermakers today.
Per DraftKings Sportsbook, Tennessee is a 3.5 point underdog this afternoon against Purdue.
Tip-off is set for 2:20 p.m. ET. CBS will have the coverage from Detroit.
Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See DraftKings.com/sportsbook for details.