No. 18 Purdue looks to regroup vs. Western Kentucky (Nov 23, 2017)
This was not the Battle 4 Atlantis matchup on Thanksgiving Day that No. 18 Purdue anticipated.
The Boilermakers (4-1) will face Western Kentucky (2-2) at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night after each lost on Wednesday afternoon.
Tennessee (3-0) upset Purdue 78-75 in overtime, and No. 5 Villanova beat Western Kentucky 66-58.
Purdue, which entered averaging 102 points and shooting 56.8 percent from the field, shot only 36.3 percent against the Volunteers. Tennessee had 20 offensive rebounds among its 50-41 advantage on the glass.
The Vols also recorded 21 second-chance points, 20 points off 18 Purdue turnovers and 38 points in the paint. The Boilermakers' lofty shooting stats fell to 53.2 percent overall and 46.2 percent from 3-point range.
It marked Purdue's first regular-season tournament loss -- it had won 11 consecutive times -- since falling to Kansas State in the opening round of the 2014 Maui Invitational.
While 6-foot-7 Grant Williams led Tennessee with 22 points -- all after halftime -- 6-8 Vince Edwards led Purdue with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard Carsen Edwards actually was the Boilermakers' leading scorer with 21. He missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer.
When Western Kentucky plays Purdue on Thursday night, it will be the Hilltoppers' first back-to-back games against Top 25 opponents since the 1993 NCAA tournament.
Purdue coach Matt Painter was bitterly disappointed by Wednesday's loss to Tennessee in the Bahamas.
"Tennessee embraced the physicality of the game much better than we did," Painter said.
"We have to be able to do that. That's not just our big guys, that is everybody. I thought they earned what they got. We have a skilled team, but we've got to win the possession wars. We've got to outrebound our opponent. We have to have fewer turnovers. When you do that, now that skill is really going to help you.
"I thought we gave Tennessee a lot of help. We've got to do a better job decision-making. We're a good offensive team, but we've got to allow ourselves to be a good offensive team. When we go too quick or force things and we turn it over, now we're not rewarding ourselves."
Senior guard P.J. Thompson, who scored 11, was hoping to play No. 5 Villanova in Thursday's semifinals and No. 2 Arizona in Friday's title game. Now, it will be Western Kentucky and still maybe Arizona in the fifth-place game. The Wildcats were upset by North Carolina State on Wednesday.
"It's very disappointing," Thompson said. "We weren't worried about the other teams. We focused on Tennessee. Credit to them. They came out and had great intensity."
Vince Edwards said Purdue lacked what carried the team to an impressive 4-0 start.
"We've got to continue to do what got us here," Edwards said. "We had some plays where we took some quick shots. We should have moved the ball. Credit them. They pressured us, they were physical with us."
Western Kentucky got 16 points from Darius Thompson and shot 44 percent in its solid eight-point loss to the nation's fifth-ranked team.
"I'm really proud of our team's effort," Hilltoppers coach Rick Stansbury said. "But I think it's the way we kind of let the game get away from us in the second half that I'm most disappointed with."
