Dalton Knecht's huge day can't quite carry Tennessee past Zach Edey and Purdue
Sun, Mar 31, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)
DETROIT (AP) - Dalton Knecht was dazzling for much of the day, looking like the prospect who's being projected as an NBA lottery pick.
Tennessee leaned on the All-America wing even more than usual, with a Final Four bid at stake, and he delivered more than he didn't against Purdue on Sunday.
Knecht, though, may have run out of gas in the Motor City.
He missed a 3-pointer with an opportunity to tie the game with 3:09 left and missed again from beyond the arc less than a minute later as the top-seeded Boilermakers pulled away for a 72-66 win over the second-seeded Volunteers.
Knecht finished with 37 points on 14-of-31 shooting, making half of his 12 attempts from deep and 3 of 4 free throws.
"I don't think I put the team on my back," he said. "I think we all carried each other. ... At the end of the day, they were just the better team."
To seal the win, All-America center Zach Edey blocked Knecht's layup as the Northern Colorado transfer and former junior college player drove to the basket with Tennessee down five and 33 seconds remaining.
Tennessee (27-9) matched the longest NCAA Tournament run in school history and fell a win short of its first trip to the Final Four, just as 2010 team did in a one-point loss to Michigan State. Rick Barnes, the Vols' 69-year-old coach, came up just short of his second appearance in college basketball's season-ending showcase and first since leading Texas to the national semifinals in 2003.
While Knecht's late misses hurt his team's comeback hopes, his supporting cast, especially a pair of players who averaged nearly 12 points a game, struggled offensively.
Jonas Aidoo was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting and Zakai Zeigler missed 9 of 12 shots and scored nine points.
"Jonas had a tough day and no one hurts more than he does," Barnes said.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
