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On Wisconsin! Badgers crash Final Four party


Keady: Elite Eight, not Final Four


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Gene Keady's résumé is still missing a Final Four.

The winningest coach in Purdue history once again fell in a town that has not been kind to Keady or the Boilermakers. Four years ago, Purdue was the No. 1 seed in the West, but lost to Georgia in the second round at The Pit.

Under Keady, the Boilermakers have won six Big Ten regular-season titles, have won 20 or more games 14 times, and have made it to the round of 16 five times since 1988.

Gene Keady
Purdue coach Gene Keady yells first-half instructions to his Boilermakers.

But no further.

Six years ago, Duke beat the Glenn Robinson-led Boilermakers 69-60 in the Southeast Regional final. On Saturday, Big Ten neighbor Wisconsin beat Purdue 64-60 in the West final.

Keady said few teams in the NCAA Tournament could have been a tougher draw for the Boilermakers.

"We faced a team today that probably if we had faced any other team in America, we might have been better off, except for Michigan State," Keady said. "They're a team that was very, very good on D (defense). They knew our weaknesses and they went right after them."

It took several minutes in the postgame news conference before the Final Four question was posed to Keady. He said earlier in the week he is tired of being asked about not getting a team to the Final Four, noting at one point that he considered making a 20-foot putt in a golf game against his buddies more important that getting to the national semifinals.

Keady later clarified the remark, saying that of course going to the Final Four carried much more significance.

Keady was unemotional about the latest close call.

"We just try to play great basketball and if that gets to the Final Four, great. If not, you move on," he said. "You know how hard it is and if that bothers a coach, he probably ought to get out of it. There's only four going out of 315. You get better players or work harder, or find ways to execute better. There's always a reason why you lose."

This time it was Wisconsin's ability to excel at what the Badgers do best -- play tenacious defense, chase down loose balls and make pass after pass until an open Badger can bury a 3-pointer or a layup.

Keady, as usual, paced in front of the Purdue bench most of the game -- his arms crossed and his face in a scowl. UCLA coach Steve Lavin, a former assistant to Keady, sat behind the Purdue bench cheering for the Boilermakers.

Purdue led twice in the second half -- the last time at 50-49 with 6:56 left. But Wisconsin wouldn't crack and when Ron Boone hit two free throws to give the Badgers a 60-53 lead with 1:08 left, Keady sank into his chair, sipped a drink of water and tugged at his tie.

Keady's last chance at Indianapolis came when Carson Cunningham's 3-pointer cut the Wisconsin lead to 63-60 with 11.5 seconds left. Keady leaped to his feet and signaled for a timeout. But a free throw by Wisconsin's Mike Kelley a second later sent the Badgers to Indianapolis and Keady home with another loss in Albuquerque.

"I feel indescribably happy," Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett said. "But there's a big part of what's inside of me that feels for Coach Keady."

Purdue's last appearance in the Final Four was in 1980, the year before Keady was hired. That season the Boilermakers lost to UCLA in the semifinals.
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