Tennessee grits its way to upset win over No. 18 Purdue
Tennessee upset No. 18 Purdue 78-75 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon thanks to the play of Lamonté Turner and Grant Williams.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee guard #1 Lamonte Turner walks to the baseline during a dead ball during the Vols’ win over Alabama in Thompson-Boling Arena on March 4, 2017.
Thanks to a gutsy effort, Tennessee upset No. 18 Purdue 78-75 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon down in the Bahamas.
Lamonté Turner was the catalyst for the Vols (3-0) in the win. With the Vols down 63-60, Turner hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Once in overtime, Grant Williams took over with back-to-back baskets to give Tennessee a late lead. Before hitting the go-ahead bucket with 14 seconds remaining, Williams worked his way through the paint before finding Kyle Alexander for a dunk.
Williams finished with 22 points – all coming in the second half – and eight rebounds in the win.
Alexander would pick up his first career double-double against the Boilermakers (4-1) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
With 2:45 left in overtime, Tennessee trailed Purdue 73-68, but the Vols would go on a 10-3 run to end the game as they hit its last four shots to secure the upset victory. The Boilermakers would get the final shot, but came up short. James Daniel lll would retrieve the ball on the miss and proceed to hit two clutch free throws after being fouled.
Not only was Turner the reason the game went to overtime, but he was also responsible for sparking the Vols in the first half while his teammates struggled. Down 27-16 with 5:29 remaining in the opening frame, Turner would enter the game and score nine-consecutive points to pull Tennessee within four points.
Turner would finish the half with a team-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The redshirt sophomore finished with 17 points and five rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting from three.
The big difference in the game was on the boards. Purdue has two players taller than 7-foot-2, but that didn’t stop Tennessee from winning the rebound battle. The Vols out-rebounded the Boilermakers 50-41. On the offensive glass, Tennessee hauled in 20 rebounds to get 21 second-chance points.
The Vols have yet another big opportunity knocking on the door, as they’ll take on No. 5 Villanova tomorrow afternoon – Nov. 22nd – at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Shortly after Tennessee’s win over Purdue, Villanova defeated Western Kentucky 66-58 to force a matchup with the Volunteers.
Photo by Brad Blackwelder
Edited by Seth Raborn
