The No. 3 seed Purdue Boilermakers are off to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000 after knocking off No. 2 seed Tennessee on Thursday in an overtime thriller, and it’s in large part thanks to Carsen Edwards.
The junior guard finished with a game-high 29 points, as he and senior guard Ryan Cline, with 27 points, together accounted for more than half of the Boilermakers’ points in the 99-94 overtime victory in Louisville. Purdue shot 54 percent from the field, and Edwards and Cline walked away with five and seven 3-pointers, respectively.
Edwards has had an incredible NCAA tournament so far.
He had 26 points in Purdue’s first-round win over No. 14 seed Old Dominion, and then he absolutely destroyed No. 6 seed Villanova with his 42 points in the second round. So with the Boilermakers’ first three games of the tournament this year, plus Edwards’ 30 points in the team’s 2018 Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech, he’s the first player since Steph Curry to have four consecutive NCAA tournament games with at least 25 points.
And that just blew him away.
Edwards’ reaction to learning that stat was absolutely perfect — and appropriate given the category that puts him in. Eventually collecting his thoughts after a big exhale and some laughs, he said:
“Oh, man. That’s pretty dope. I didn’t know that. It’s just a blessing to be here and just have an opportunity to play at this level, to play with a bunch of good guys and a good staff that believes in me. So I’m just happy to be here, man. I just want to continue to play. When it comes down to it, I don’t even really care about the points, man. I just want to win.”
Purdue advanced and will take on No. 1 seed Virginia on Saturday for a shot at the Final Four.