The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team dropped a 71-67 decision to second-ranked Purdue in the Allstate Maui Invitational semifinals Tuesday evening.
No. 7/8 Tennessee (4-1) built an early nine-point lead, but the Boilermakers flipped the margin to eight the other way in the second half. The Volunteers did tie the score twice down the stretch, but the reigning Big Ten champions held on in a thriller at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht paced the Volunteers with 16 points in the setback, marking his fifth time in as many games leading the team in scoring to begin his Tennessee career.
Fletcher Loyer paced all scorers with 27 points, although Tennessee limited him to a 7-of-18 mark from the field and a 3-of-10 clip beyond the arc. Senior center Zach Edey, the reigning consensus national player of the year, totaled 23 points and 10 rebounds, finishing 7-of-10 on field goals and 9-of-17 on free throws.
Both teams shot under 36 percent from the field and exactly 26.7 percent beyond the arc—Tennessee had twice as many attempts—but the Boilermakers went 29-of-48 (60.4 percent) at the line compared to the Volunteers’ 21-of-30 (70.0 percent) ledger. It marked the most free throws by an opposing team in Rick Barnes’ nine years at Tennessee with six more than the prior high.
Tennessee notched a 26-3 edge in bench points and forced 16 turnovers while committing just 10, but Purdue had a 28-18 margin in paint points behind a 17-10 edge in offensive rebounds.
The Volunteers conclude action in the Allstate Maui Invitational in the third-place contest against top-ranked Kansas at 2:30 p.m. ET, live on ESPN from SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center with Vol Network Coverage on 103.1 FM WIKQ.
