Top Performances in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament

April 1st, 2024

Here are some of the best performances in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Zach Edey’s masterful, 40-point, 16-rebound in a decisive win over Tennessee could have NBA teams convinced to make him a lottery pick in the 2024 draft. (Photo: Associated Press, via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Purdue’s 7-4 center, Zach Edey had a tremendous performance, as he scored 40 points on 13 of 21 shooting and hauled in 16 rebounds to lead his team to a decisive win over Tennessee.

The 40 points Edey dropped weren't bad either, though. He showed outstanding footwork in the post and finishing out of pick-and-roll, as well as excellent touch with both hands. Dominant performance being on the floor for all but 33 seconds, which is remarkable at 7-foot-4. https://t.co/zMLkiwxhWV pic.twitter.com/22bwjSuz9h
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 1, 2024

Purdue’s 7-4 center Zach Edey had 40 points and 16 rebounds in his team’s win over Purdue. (Source: Twitter/@DraftExpress)

Tennessee’s 6-6 senior swingman, Dalton Knecht scored 37 points on 14 of 31 shooting and made 6 threes in his team’s loss to Purdue. Surprisingly though, he didn’t get to the free throw line all that much in this game.

UConn’s Donovan Clingan scored 22 points, had 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks to lead his team to a blowout win over Illinois, and his team had a tremendous second half in the process. Cam Spencer had 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Samson Johnson scored 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting off the bench. Meanwhile, Illinois’ Marcus Domask scored 17 points in this game.

Another incredible defensive performance for Donovan Clingan, absolutely shutting down Illinois in UConn's 77-52 blowout win to advance to the Final Four. 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 steals in just 22 minutes for the projected top-five pick. pic.twitter.com/8k3oIEBHcX
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) March 31, 2024

UConn’s 7-2 sophomore center, Donovan Clingan had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks in his team’s win over Illinois.
(Source: Twitter/@DraftExpress)

NC State’s 6-9 senior big man, DJ Burns scored 29 points to lead his team to a double-digit win over Duke. Duke’s freshman guard, Jared McCain scored 32 points, made 5 threes, and had 6 rebounds in his team’s loss to NC State. NC State’s DJ Horne scored 20 points in this game.

DJ Burns Jr. vs Duke

29 PTS (13-19 FG)
4 REBS
3 AST
2 BLKS

How we feeling about bros game… League? pic.twitter.com/TatqtbzG9y
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) March 31, 2024

DJ Burns had 29 points and 3 assists to lead NC State to an upset win over Duke in the Elite Eight.
(Source: Twitter/@Frankie_Vision)

In the Alabama-Clemson game, Alabama’s Mark Sears scored 23 points and made 7 threes to lead his team to a decisive win over Clemson. Nick Pringle had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Alabama’s 6-11 freshman forward, Jarin Stevenson scored 19 points and made 5 threes off the bench. For Clemson, Ian Schieffelin scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds. Joseph Girard III scored 19 points and made 5 threes. RJ Godfrey scored 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting off the bench in his team’s loss to Alabama.

Without further ado, here are the 3 Stars of the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA Tournament:

Zach Edey, Purdue (40 points, 16 rebounds in a win over Tennessee)
Donovan Clingan, UConn (22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks in a win over Illinois)
DJ Burns, NC State (29 points, 3 assists, and 2 blocks in a win over Duke)

Those are my thoughts on how the Elite Eight games fared, and who had the best performances in this round. Thanks for reading.