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No. 2 Purdue downs No. 7 Tennessee in rock fight at Maui Invitational

Ethan Stone

By Ethan Stone

Published:

No. 2 Purdue basketball downed No. 7 Tennessee to advance to the Maui Invitational championship game against No. 4 Marquette.

The Boilermakers and Vols are both very physical teams and it showed Tuesday night. The officiating was questionable at best on both sides of the court, with a grand total of 78 free throws attempted by either team. 51 total fouls were called.

To say this game was a rock fight is a massive understatement: It hardly looked like basketball at times. But that doesn’t discredit what Purdue was able to accomplish against a rock solid Tennessee group that has started the season very well.

Outside of free throws and foul trouble, the story of the game for Purdue is twofold: Zach Edey and Fletcher Loyer’s dominance paired with an incredible defensive effort.

Edey and Loyer combined to score 50 of Purdue’s 71 points Tuesday night, with no other Boilermaker eclipsing 8 points. The reigning National Player of the year added 10 boards and shot 7-10 from the field.

Tennessee went cold at the end and had some open looks, but the Boilermakers were forcing tough shots all night. Nothing came easy, which can be backed up from a look at the free throw numbers.

The Boilermakers face a Marquette team that loves to run and offers a different skillset compared to Tennessee. The championship game is set to tip at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN from Honolulu.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.