LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tennessee rallied from an 18-point 2nd half deficit and led Purdue by two with 2.7 seconds left. The Boilermakers were in-bounding the ball and Lamonté Turner was all over Carsen Edwards, but eventually Purdue got him the ball and he released a quick three from the right corner.
Edwards missed the shot but Turner was whistled for a foul for contacting his leg after the shot left his hand but before his feet hit the ground. Edwards made two of his three free throws to send the game to overtime where Purdue pulled out a 99-94 win to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000.
The score had been 82-80 before the foul was called.
"When you're guarding a shooter, you want to contest their shot. He was kicking his leg out all night. So if he kicks his leg out I can't contest the shot. I had been talking to the ref about that. Last play of the game he kicks his leg out, I try to contest the shot and his leg made contact with me and they call a foul," Turner said in the locker room after the game.
"I don't understand what I'm supposed to do. But, that was the call. It didn't decide the game, but we lost in overtime."
CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore tweeted that the officials made the right call.
Rick Barnes thought it was the right call too, although it was a tough situation.
"It was a foul. It was a foul. He missed the shot. Lamonté hit him after the shot. That's a tough play because, again, we knew -- I think actually they were trying to work something inside. It was close to a five-second count. I even think they got that in. I know they got it in because I saw it. But Lamonté being a competitor that he is, he went up, and the ball was gone. It was three feet out of his hand when he hit him. We know the rule. You've got to allow the shooter to come back down. It's a tough one, because in that situation, we know we can't foul there and they've got to make that shot. But we wouldn't have been in the situation to come back in that game if it wasn't for Lamonté," Barnes said.
Turner guarded Edwards closely for most of the night, holding him to 36% shooting and just 2-9 from the floor in the second half. Turner helped spark Tennessee's comeback, scoring 13 second-half points on 5-7 shooting. He also had three assists and zero turnovers in the game.
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