Honolulu, HI – 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.
Purdue (5-0) scored seven of the first 11 points, all via sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer, but the Tennessee defense then began to take control. The Volunteers soon went on a 10-0 run in 5:21 to go up by nine, 20-11, with 8:51 left in the half. They held Purdue without a point for 5:50, part of a 6:54 stretch during which it missed 13 consecutive field-goal attempts.
The Boilermakers went back in front, 28-27, with 2:12 left in the half, but Tennessee scored the next four points on the way to a 31-30 halftime advantage. Knecht logged 13 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting for the Volunteers, while Loyer had 17 on a 4-of-13 field-goal clip and 7-of-8 free-throw mark for Purdue.
Tennessee limited the Boilermakers to 6-of-30 (20.0 percent) shooting in the opening 20 minutes, but they took 26 free throws, twice as many as the Volunteers, and scored 16 points at the line.
Purdue made four of its first five shots coming out of the break and, aided by seven straight points in 68 seconds, built a seven-point edge, 40-33, with 17:41 remaining. It stretched the cushion to a game-best eight, 43-35, with 14:08 to go.
After Tennessee closed within three, Purdue got the margin back to eight, after which the Volunteers went on a 7-0 run, with all seven points at the line, in just 2:06 to make it a one-point game, 50-49, with exactly eight minutes to play.
Tennessee, aided by a pair of 3-pointers from junior guard Jordan Gainey, pulled even at 61 with 4:17 left. Gainey then hit another one to level the score at 64 just 70 seconds later, but Purdue scored the next six points to go up, 70-64, with 56 ticks on the clock. Knecht hit a long-range shot with 13.5 seconds left to slice the deficit in half, but the Volunteers got no closer.
Knecht shot 6-of-13, including 3-of-5 from deep, adding a team- and season-high seven rebounds in the contest. Gainey finished with 15 points, one shy of his season best.
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.
Next Up For UT Men’s Basketball
The Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team concludes action in the Allstate Maui Invitational in the third-place contest against either top-ranked Kansas or No. 4/5 Marquette at 9:30am CT, live on ESPN2 from SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
Tennessee Volunteers Postgame Notes
The Volunteers are now 4-7 all-time in the Maui Invitational, including 0-4 in second-game matchups.
Barnes now owns a 10-9 record in eight multi-team regular season events across his nine seasons at Tennessee, including a 7-4 mark outside the continental United States.
Tennessee fell to 12-11 against AP top-10 opponents under Barnes, including 7-3 since the start of the 2021-22 season and 7-2 in its last nine such games.
The Volunteers are now 6-4 under Barnes in AP top-10 showdowns, including 3-2 dating back to the beginning of 2021-22 campaign.
Tennessee fell to 9-6 versus AP top-five foes in Barnes’ tenure, including 5-2 since the start of the 2021-2022 season and had a five-game winning streak against such foes snapped.
During his Tennessee tenure, Barnes now owns a 4-3 record against AP top-three teams and a 2-2 ledger versus AP top-two opponents.
The only other time in Barnes’ nine-year tenure a Tennessee opponent took 40-plus free throws was on January 17th, 2017, when Ole Miss went 27-of-42 in a home victory.
Tuesday marked the seventh time in Barnes’ nine-year tenure that both the Volunteers and their opponent attempted 30-plus free throws, including the first since Feb. 11, 2020, versus Arkansas, while the other five were all during the 2015-16 season.
Prior to the 78 attempts Tuesday, the highest combined total between two teams in a Tennessee game during Barnes’ tenure was 73 on November 11th, 2016, when the Volunteers took 40 and Chattanooga had 33.
The Boilermakers had a stretch in the first half during which Tennessee held them to 1-of-16 from the field goal.
Edey, who entered the game 27-of-30 (90.0 percent) from the line in his last three games, missed his first six free throws, as the Boilermakers started 2-of-10 at the stripe, but he then connected on six in a row to aid his team to 10 straight makes.
Loyer (17) and Edey (10) combined to score all but three of the Boilermakers’ 30 first-half points and made all six of their field goals with four and two, respectively.
Tennessee made all four of its layups and dunks in the first half while limiting Purdue to a 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) ledger at the other end.
With 13 points before the break, Knecht logged his sixth double-digit performance in a frame this season.
Knecht has scored 16-plus points and led Tennessee in scoring in all five of its contests to open the 2023-24 season.
Fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi passed Mike Edwards (1971-73) to move into the top 25 of Tennessee’s all-time scoring list, now with 1,350 points.
Vescovi tied his career high of eight made free throws, set on Feb. 10, 2021, versus Georgia, while also setting a new career best in free-throw attempts with 10, eclipsing his prior top mark of eight, recorded twice.
Sophomore forward Tobe Awaka fouled out with 3:44 remaining and then junior forward Jonas Aidoo did so 80 seconds later, making the first two disqualifications for the Volunteers this season.
As announced before the start of the tournament, redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V is out for the entire Allstate Maui Invitational due to a partial tear of his left plantar fascia.
