[3] Purdue 72, [6] Tennessee 66 (Postgame Notes)
- The No. 3-ranked and top-seeded Purdue men’s basketball team topped No. 6-ranked and second-seeded Tennessee 72-66 in the Midwest Regional Finals on Sunday in Detroit.
- The win moves Purdue to the Final Four for the third time ever and the first time since 1980.
- Purdue’s 33 wins are the most in school history by three games (30 in 2017-18).
- Purdue has won its four games in the NCAA Tournament by a combined 85 points.
- Purdue improved to 10-0 this season against nationally-ranked teams, including 7-0 against teams ranked in the AP Top 12 at the time of the game. The 10 wins without a loss against the AP top 25 are tied for the most in NCAA history with Kentucky (10-0 in 2011-12).
- Purdue has won 21 straight non-conference and postseason games against power-conference or nationally-ranked teams, the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind UCLA (1971 to 1974).
- Purdue is now 19-5 against nationally-ranked teams since the start of the 2021-22 season.
- Zach Edey scored a career-high 40 points with 16 rebounds en route to earning Midwest Region MOP honors.
- Zach Edey becomes the first player since Indiana State’s Larry Bird to have at least 900 points and 450 rebounds in a season (now with 926 points, 452 rebounds). He joins Bird, Houston’s Elvin Hayes, Miami’s Rick Barry and Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson as the only players to do so.
- Edey’s 40 points are the eighth-most in NCAA Tournament history in a Regional Final game, but aren’t even a school record. Carsen Edwards had 42 points in 2019 vs. Virginia.
- Edey is the first player in NCAA history to have at least 40 points and 15 rebounds in a Regional Final.
- In the NCAA Tournament, Edey is averaging 30.0 points and 16.3 rebounds per game. Edey’s 22 free throw attempts are tied for the fifth most in a game in school history and are tied for the most in a Regional Final in NCAA Tournament history.
- Edey is now averaging 25.0 points per game and is the first player since Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson in 1960 to lead the country in scoring and advance to the Final Four.
- Edey recorded his 28thdouble-double of the season, tying a school and Big Ten record for double-doubles in a season (Caleb Swanigan – 28; 2016-17).
- Edey’s 16 rebounds gave him 452 for the season – a new Purdue school record and the third most in Big Ten history.
- Edey’s 424 free throw attempts are the fifth most in a season in NCAA history. The NCAA record is 440 set by Furman’s Frank Selvy in 1953-54.
- The 30-10 game was his 17thof his career and the 40-10 game was the first in an NCAA Regional Final since Loyola Marymount’s Bo Kimble in 1990 (42 points, 11 rebounds).
- The 40-15 game is the first 40-15 game for a Boilermaker since Dave Schellhase vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 21, 1964.
- Braden Smith joined Edey on the Midwest Region All-Tournament team after having nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win over Tennessee.
- Smith now has 278 assists on the season, the second most in a season in Big Ten history (Cassius Winston – 291; 2018-19).