Eddy, No. 1 Purdue roll past No. 2 Tennessee

DETROIT (AP) — Purdue big man Zach Edey went for a career-high 40 points along with 16 rebounds and one big block Sunday to muscle the Boilermakers into the program’s first Final Four since 1980 with a 7266 victory over Tennessee.

The 7-foot-4 center willed his way to a win in a back-and-forth thriller between the country’s top two players, edging out Tennessee’s All-American, Dalton Knecht, who finished with 37 points.

Fittingly for this showdown, Edey swatted away Knecht’s layup as the Northern Colorado transfer drove to the basket while trailing by five with 33 seconds left, putting an end to the Vols’ desperate comeback hopes.

Top-seeded Purdue (33-4) set aside last year’s grand disappointment — a first-round loss as a No. 1 seed — to book the trip to Glendale, Arizona. On Saturday, the Boilermakers will play either Duke or North Carolina State in the national semifinals.

“We had to take it,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said of the abuse that came last year. “Sometimes when you sit in it and you’re honest with yourself and you take it, some great things can happen.”

Tennessee (27-9), a No. 2 seed, was seeking its first Final Four, and Vols coach Rick Barnes was denied the second trip of his 38-year career to college basketball’s biggest stage.

This was a scrapfest of a game played in front of an ear-splitting crowd packed with Purdue fans who made their way up from Indiana.

They were looking for history, and they got it — along with the game ball that Fletcher Loyer chucked about 20 rows into the stands when the buzzer went off.

With the school’s 87-yearold former coach, Gene Keady, sitting in the stands, this game at times looked like a dusty ol’ throwback.

Purdue fed the ball into Edey in the post, and though the grabby, swatty UT defense made some inroads — even blocking two of his shots — foul trouble piled up for Tennessee and Edey wore them down, but just barely. He finished 13 of 21 from the floor and lived at the foul line, where he went 14 for 22.

Meanwhile, the 3-point arc that was six years from coming into existence at Purdue’s last trip this far into the tournament was barely a factor for the Boilermakers. They went 3 for 15 from long range.

“Obviously we wanted to isolate Zach and get him down there,” Painter said. “We missed a lot of 3s that we normally make and we missed a lot of free throws. We stayed with it.”

How close was this game, and this matchup? There were eight lead changes and six ties. More tellingly, with 5 minutes left, the teams were tied at 58, and both Knecht and Edey had scored 31 points on 12 field goals.

According to OptaSTATS, this was the first time opposing players scored more than half their squads’ points in an NCAA Tournament game.

The game, though, came down to three 3-point attempts. Knecht missed a pair of open looks, first with his team trailing by three at the 3:09 mark, then again on the next possession when down by six.

In between, Lance Jones spot - ted up from the corner for a 3 that gave Purdue a 66-60 lead and some breathing room.

ALABAMA 89, CLEMSON 82

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Every time Clemson tried to cut down its deficit, Alabama fired up a 3-pointer. Over and over and in such quick succession that the Crimson Tide looked like a video game.

Mark Sears made seven 3-pointers and Alabama recovered from its early long-distance woes with 16 3s to beat Clemson 89-82 on Saturday night, sending the Tide to the Final Four for the first time.

“Man, just feeling a lot of emotion,” said Sears, the only Alabama native on the team. “Being from the state of Alabama and to do it with this group of guys, it’s amazing.”

The Tide (25-11) will face defending national champion UConn in Glendale, Arizona, next Saturday. Alabama knocked off top-seeded North Carolina to reach the Elite Eight.

Sears’ 3-pointers were one off his career high. He finished with 23 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament’s West Region.

Freshman Jarin Stevenson airballed a couple 3s in the first half, when Alabama missed 12 of its first 13 from long range. He ended up making a career-high five 3s and had 19 points off the bench.

“We don’t win this game without him,” Sears said. “Jarin hit 3 after 3 after 3 and kept us in this ballgame. He was huge.”

Tide coach Nate Oats added, “Jarin grew up tonight.”

The Tide donned red T-shirts with the entirely appropriate slogan “Net Worthy” as they celebrated while a bucket of red-andwhite confetti was dumped on them. Oats walked into the postgame news conference wearing the net around his neck.

Clemson (24-12) was seeking its first Final Four appearance, too, in a matchup of schools better known for their national championship football teams.

Joseph Girard III led Clemson with 19 points, and Ian Schieffelin had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tide buried the Tigers in an avalanche of 10 3s in the second half to pull away. Sears hit a 3, turned and put his fingers to his lips. After he sank the Tide’s eighth 3 of the half, Sears playfully stuck out his tongue and nodded his head as he ran up the court.