Grant Williams, Tennessee basketball fans decry officiating against Purdue, Zach Edey in Elite 8

Nick Gray, Nashville Tennessean

Purdue center Zach Edey was dominant in Sunday's Elite 8 game against Tennessee basketball in Detroit.

How that dominance reflected on the way he and his opponent were officiated is up for discussion.

Edey had 40 points and 16 rebounds, including 14-of-22 shooting from the free throw line, in Purdue's 72-66 win over the Vols. In a game featuring 37 fouls and more than a few physical non-calls, Edey played 39 minutes and was called for one foul. Tennessee's frontcourt was plagued by foul trouble all game.

The discrepancy was noted on social media by Tennessee basketball alums Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, among others.

INSTANT RECAP: Tennessee basketball downed by Purdue in March Madness, falls a game shy of Final Four

GENTRY ESTES: Tennessee basketball had its chances at Final Four, but Zach Edey was in the way

Williams didn't specify on X, formerly known as Twitter, but he's almost certainly speaking about the 2019 Sweet 16 loss for Tennessee against Purdue in overtime. The Vols led in the final seconds of regulation before Lamonte Turner was controversially called for a foul on Carsen Edwards on a 3-point attempt with 1.7 seconds left. Edwards hit two free throws to tie the game and send the game into OT.

Back to Sunday: Edey was called for a foul once while drawing at least 13 foul calls on contact by Vols players in a very physical game by both teams.

Vol Twitter noted all of this, and focused in on Edey's ability to avoid foul calls on his own accord despite being involved in so much physical play.

Edey shot 22 free throws, while the Vols shot 11 as a team. It's no surprise that Tennessee played a physical style of defense against the likely two-time National Player of the Year. Jonas Aidoo was ineffective against Edey's size and had three fouls in 10 minutes, Tobe Awaka fouled out in 13 minutes of action and J.P Estrella picked up three fouls in 15 minutes despite doing an OK job against the Canadian center.

The narrative around how officials call Edey on both ends of the floor might be the most-talked-about topic in next week's Final Four. Tennessee found out how effective Edey can be the hard way on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Grant Williams, Tennessee basketball fans decry officiating against Zach Edey

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