Purdue wins OT thriller
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Carsen Edwards scored 29 points as Purdue advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000, needing overtime to beat Tennessee 99-94 Thursday night after blowing an 18-point lead.
The third-seeded Boilermakers (26-9) will play either top-seeded Virginia or No. 12 seed Oregon on Saturday in the South Regional final for their first trip to the Final Four since 1980.
Purdue is in a regional final for the fifth time, but first with coach Matt Painter, who had gotten the team to the round of 16 four times previously.
The co-Big Ten champs needed a pair of free throws by Edwards with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime after the star guard was fouled shooting a 3.
Grant Williams’ dunk with 8.8 seconds left had Tennessee (31-6) on the verge of the Vols’ second Elite Eight berth all-time. But Edwards then was fouled by Lamonte’ Turner on a corner jumper. Purdue’s all-time leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament missed his first attempt, but tied it at 82.
It was Tennessee’s second straight overtime game in this tournament. The Vols blew a 25-point lead to Iowa in the second round, but recovered to win it in OT. The last team to blow consecutive overtime games in the NCAA Tournament was Florida in 2011. The Gators beat BYU and lost to Butler.
Matt Haarms hit a free throw to open overtime, and Purdue scored nine of the first 11 points.
Ryan Cline finished with a career-high 27 points, shooting 7 for 10 from 3-point range, before fouling out in OT for Purdue. Haarms and Nojel Eastern each had 11.
Williams and Admiral Schofield scored 21 apiece for Tennessee. Jordan Bowden had 16, Turner 15 and Jordan Bone 15.
This was the third straight Sweet 16 berth for the Boilermakers, and their experience at this point showed compared to a Tennessee team with nobody around from the Vols’ last trip to a regional semifinal back in 2014. The Boilermakers led 40-28 at halftime as they outshot, outrebounded and outplayed Tennessee into only the fourth double-digit deficit this season for the Vols.
The Boilermakers led 51-33 with 16:19 left before the Vols turned in a 16-2 run to tie it up at 65 with 6:56 left to set up a battle to the finish — at least in regulation.
Gonzaga 72, Florida State 58
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Gonzaga is in the Elite Eight for the fourth time in history following a victory over Florida State in the opening West regional semifinal on Thursday night.
Rui Hachimura scored 17 points to lead the top-seeded Bulldogs, while Brandon Clarke had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Gonzaga returned to the regional final for the second time in three seasons.
Josh Perkins and Zach Norvell Jr. each scored 14 points for Gonzaga, which led most of the game. Florida State pulled within four with less five minutes to play but the Bulldogs closed with a 12-2 run and avenged last year’s loss to the Seminoles in the regional semifinals.
Trent Forrest led fourth-seeded Florida State (29-8) with 20 points. The Seminoles advanced to the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993, but fell one step short of another trip to the Elite Eight.
Florida State played without senior Phil Cofer, who learned after his team’s first-round win over Vermont that his father, former NFL player Mike Cofer, had died after a long illness. The funeral is Saturday in Georgia and Cofer is with his family. The Seminoles left an open spot for Cofer when they lined up in pregame for the national anthem.
Gonzaga used a 16-5 run to break open the rematch and take a 30-17 lead in the first half. The Bulldogs missed their first three 3-point attempts but recovered to hit 4 of 6 from behind the arc during the run.
