Stars seeking to gain rare air

Edey, Knecht eye elite win

DETROIT — Zach Edey and Dalton Knecht, perhaps college basketball’s biggest stars this side of Caitlin Clark, will be on the same court Sunday, each with a chance to lift their school to an elusive trip to the Final Four.

The top two vote-getters on the men’s AP All-america team will face off when top-seeded Purdue (32-4) plays second-seeded Tennessee (27-8) in the only regional final pitting the top two seeds.

“Both teams really, they’re more than just the main event that you’re talking about,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said Saturday. “Those guys, they deserved every honor that they’ve gotten. But both of them would tell you, that they would defer to their teammates for helping them get what they’ve gotten done.”

The Boilermakers and Volunteers met four months ago, and the result was familiar for most teams that have tried defend the 7-foot4-inch, 300-pound Edey.

Edey had 23 points and 10 rebounds — one of his 27 double-doubles this season — despite being in foul trouble. He corralled seven of Purdue’s 17 offensive rebounds in a four-point win over Tennessee in the Maui Invitational.

That victory, one of a school-record 32 earned by Matt Painter’s squad, won’t be of much consolation if the Boilermakers don’t break through with their first trip to the Final Four since 1980, when Lee Rose was the coach and Joe Barry Carroll was their best player.

Painter is desperately hoping not to go 0-for-2 in regional finals. The last time the five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year had a team on the brink of the Final Four was in 2019, when the Boilermakers were outlasted in overtime by eventual champion Virginia.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been to a Final Four, and we’d like to accomplish that,” the 53-year-old Painter said. “But we know Tennessee’s in the way and they have a great team.”

The Vols are also desperately seeking a spot in college basketball’s season-ending showcase. Barnes would like to get back for the second time, and first since Syracuse beat his Texas team in the 2003 national semifinals.

Tennessee has matched its longest run in the NCAA Tournament, equaling the 2010 squad that lost to Michigan State by one point.