NCAA Tournamente Elite Eight Game Preview: #1 Purdue vs #2 Tennessee

"I feel it. I was a Purdue basketball player, and a Purdue fan, then I was a Purdue assistant coach, now I'm the Purdue head coach. Everyone feels it. No different than rooting for the Cubs. You just want it. That's your passion."

Purdue's head coach Matt Painter was on full display on Saturday, talking Purdue, spending pages of transcript discussing the NIL, and the approaching game against Tennessee.

But Purdue's story, this team's story, Matt Painter's story comes to a head with this answer. Painter, a lifelong Cubs fan, someone who escapes in the summer to a handful or more of Cubs games, knows that the years of post season disappointment pile up for a program and a team that hasn't been able to quite get over that last hurdle.

For players, the hurdle they're eyeing is a National Title. It's not enough to just get there, but for Painter and Purdue's legacy, it would be foolhardy to ignore that just getting there would be a welcomed reprieve for the narrative against both parties.

Matt Painter has been here before, but only once, and he's never won an Elite Eight game, not as a player or a coach.

Now he is just a game away, again. The last trip to the Elite Eight was a heart breaking overtime loss to Virginia where Purdue did absolutely everything it could to win, but fate, cruelty, a curse, name it whatever you like, intervened to keep the Boilermakers out of the Final Four.

This time, Purdue will have to beat a team it beat earlier in the season, when an unformed Tennessee team sent Purdue to the free throw nearly fifty times in the second round of the Maui Invitational in Honolulu.

Fletcher Loyer carried Purdue with 27 points as Zach Edey fought foul trouble of his own, and Purdue got the best of the Volunteers, 71-67.

There's history between these programs in March. In that 2019 tournament run, Purdue had to win in the last seconds against Tennessee after a corner three foul was called on a Carsen Edwards three-point attempt, but that game will be known forever as the Ryan Cline game.

Can Purdue do it again? Purdue has dominated the NCAA Tournament to this point, but Tennessee has loomed large in the bracket as the #2 seed, a team with the defensive physicality to challenge Purdue.

This Purdue team has not hidden from ghosts. It's answered every challenge. It's now a game away from the Final Four.

Tennessee has its own story and haunted March past as well. Tennessee has never made it to the Final Four.

On Sunday, one story, one team will get to add a narrative changing chapter to its story. For the other, the story ends.

This is March Madness. This is the Elite Eight.

This is Purdue versus Tennessee.

Santiago Vescovi was unavailable for Tennessee's 82-75 win over Creighton. Vescovi is suffering from a virus that had him visible sapped of energy.

"We haven't really asked him if he's playing or anything like that," starting guard Zakai Zeigler said on Saturday. "It's more so just making sure he's doing okay. At the end of the day, health is more important than a game. If he says he's okay and he feels fine to play, then he'll let us know."

Rick Barnes added Vescovi was visibly without energy with his fever spiking, going away, and then coming back. It's still up in the air whether he can try and give it a go on Sunday.

Vescovi is part of Tennessee's physical identity and a strong, combo guard that's averaging 6.5 points a game, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. He's also one of the Volunteers best defenders, but he's a place Purdue can hide defenders on defense. He's shooting less than 40% from the floor and under 30% from three.

Purdue and Zach Edey have always gotten to the line a lot, but even for Purdue, there were a lot of whistles in the first matchup between these two teams. Purdue shot 48 free throws and Tennessee shot 30 free throws.

It was an unpleasant viewing experience, and more frustrating on the court.

Jonas Aidoo, Tennessee's center and best post defender, fouled out in 13 minutes. Tobe Awaka, a not often used big, fouled out in 13 minutes. Two other Volunteers ended the game with four fouls.

For Purdue, Zach Edey played just 26 minutes against Tennessee because the whistles were going both ways. Edey ended the game with four fouls.

Tennessee's identity is physical on defense and it gives up a lot of free throws to teams. Zach Edey is the country's best player at drawing fouls and getting to the line, but he didn't get a favorable whistle in the Sweet Sixteen against Gonzaga. The refs let him play through physicality on both ends of the floor.

There was just a combined 17 free throws with Purdue and Gonzaga. Purdue had just 10 free throw attempts with Edey taking all 10 of them.

"I feel like in the games in this tournament, fouls are a lot harder to come by," Josiah-Jordan James from Tennessee said on Saturday about guarding Edey without fouling. "They let you play through a lot more."

Edey took 17 free throws against Tennessee, but even more harming, was Fletcher Loyer's ability to get to the line, going 10 of 11 from the line in what was a career-high in free throw attempts for the Purdue guard.

Braden Smith put on an all-time performance against Gonzaga on Friday night.

Smith controlled the game with his selective aggressiveness and passing. His line reads like a video game: 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists on 11 shots with just 2 turnovers.

So it's a little shocking to read Smith's stat line against Tennessee in the Maui Invitational matchup. Smith had 6 points on 2 of 9 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist to 3 turnovers.

Part of the reason for that lack of production is Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler, one of the nation's best perimeter defenders. Zeigler was still working his way back into the lineup after suffering an ACL injury the year prior. It was the most minutes he played in a game up to that point, going for 28 minutes, but he was effective in making Smith's life difficult.

But Zeigler's offensive performance left a lot to be desired, too. Zeigler looked like a player that was still knocking the rust off. He was 2 of 11 from the floor and scored just 5 points and had 3 assists and 3 turnovers.

It's not often that Smith is the bigger guard, but Zeigler gives up three inches to Smith. Both guards have a reputation for being tenacious, with Zeigler the face of defense first intensity and Smith wearing the moniker of offensive savant.

It's a dream point guard match-up.

"He was just coming back from his ACL injury," Zeigler's teammate, Josiah-Jordan James, said about Zeigler and how different the team is now compared to November. "He was kind of hesitant. He wasn't really himself. We didn't really expect him to be. He's had a lot of experience up until this point. He's definitely exceeded the expectations that we had and he's playing his best baksetball right now."

Zeigler echoed that sentiment about himself in November, "I was a different player. Just wasn't confident. As confident as I am now, certain cuts, lunges, and moves that I do now, I probably wouldn't have done then. I just feel like I'm a completely different player."

Braden Smith is anticipating Zeigler and Tennessee to have their best game Sunday.

"Tennessee is a really good defensive team," Smith said Saturday. "They've got really good defensive guards. Just handling the ball and getting the ball in the right spots is going to be our biggest goal."

"He's an All-American level player," Smith said of Zeigler a couple answers later.

Neither offense could figure out the other in the Maui Invitational.

Purdue was 19 of 54 from the field. Tennessee was 19-57.

Neither team knocked down threes, Purdue turned the ball over more, but Tennessee couldn't keep Purdue off the offensive glass.

The game was decided on free throws with Purdue getting to the line just a little bit more than Tennessee even though Purdue was an inefficient 28-48 from the free throw line. Purdue also had 17 turnovers, and the combination let Tennessee hang around in the game.

But Dalton Knecht has improved to the point of being most likely the second in voting for Player of the Year behind Zach Edey. But his singular brilliance to score at all three levels has held Tennessee's offense afloat more than made it soar.

Purdue has its own star on offense, Zach Edey, and he'll most likely take in his second straight National Player of the Year Award.

Knecht came up from D2, transferring first into Northern Colorado and now Tennessee where he's made himself into a possible NBA Lottery Pick.

Edey went from a barely top-500 recruit without a basketball background to the back to back player of the year. He's also slated to be a first round pick in the NBA next season.

"Just watching Zach Edey and how he's improved and knowing what I know about Matt, I think the word I would use with both of them is humility," Rick Barnes said on Saturday about college basketball's two best players.

In November, Knecht was still relatively unknown. Looking back, it's clear that whistles robbed college basketball of one of the best showdowns between elite college players with even better stories.

Now, fans are lucky enough to get to witness them running it back.

Will the stars be able to shine this time?