(No. 3) Texas Tech vs (No. 2) Purdue
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have finally found their stride again after struggling at the end of the regular season. Keenan Evans still isn’t 100 percent healthy, but he says once the game gets going his toe doesn’t seem to bother him.
If the Red Raiders want to win this game they’ll need the Keenan Evans from early in the season. Evans balled out of control along with freshman Zhaire Smith in their second-round matchup against Florida. Evans finished with 22 points while Smith contributed a healthy 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. The two of them will be vitally important against the Boilermakers.
On the other bench you have a Purdue team that may or may not have Isaac Haas, who suffered a fractured elbow in their first round game. He almost played against Butler, but failed to have his brace approved by the NCAA. They’ll have to rely on Carsen Edwards like they have for most of the season to carry them to the next round.
It also helps that Vincent Edwards decided to finally show up with 20 points against Butler. In this game if Haas doesn’t play it’ll be Keenan Evans against Carsen Edwards, and Vincent Edwards against Zhaire Smith. I’ll take Texas Tech’s guys in this game.