West Lafayette, IN – After Purdue’s chance at the 2019 NCAA Final Four came up just short against UVA in the Elite Eight this past March, the Boilermakers will get their shot at redemption. Announced jointly on Thursday morning between the Big Ten and ACC, the two foes will match up on December 4th at Mackey Arena as part of the ACC Big Ten Challenge.
The Boilers were literally a second away from heading to their first Final Four since 1980. After a missed free throw from UVA’s Ty Jerome looked to seal the Boilers berth to Minneapolis as time ticked down, the Cavs corraled the rebound and pushed it back up the court. Kihei Clark passed it up to Mamadi Diakite who hit the game-tying shot at the buzzer sending the game into OT, where the Cavs would control the pace, advance and eventually win the National Title.
This will be just the fourth time the two teams have met on the court, with UVA holding the 1-2 advantage over Purdue. However, the lone trip that UVA took to Mackey saw the Boilermakers take home the 61-59 W back in November of 2006.
Written by Adrian Beecher
