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BOX SCORE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The NCAA Tournament has a new
sentimental favorite -- scowling old Gene Keady.
The 64-year-old Purdue coach is one victory from his first trip
to the Final Four after his Purdue Boilermakers ended the
tournament run of those darlings of college basketball, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 75-66 Thursday night in the semifinals of the West Regional.
|  | | Jaraan Cornell, who led Purdue with 18 points, drives on Gonzaga's Matt Santangelo. |
Keady said that, obviously, the Final Four is the goal, but for
his team, not for any personal reasons.
"I don't care if I fill my resumé out," he said. "I've had a great career. I'd rather make a 20-foot putt against my buddies."
Still, one more victory and the Boilermakers will be headed to
Indianapolis, and a shot at the national championship just a short
drive from the Purdue campus.
"It's just amazing to know that we have one more game -- 40
minutes -- and we'll be going home to Indianapolis," Purdue's Brian
Cardinal said.
The Zags were done in by basketball basics -- defense and
rebounding.
Purdue slowed the game to a half-court pace and pestered
Gonzaga's guards into a miserable shooting night.
Jaraan Cornell, whose season-long shooting slump came to an end
when the NCAA Tournament began, scored 18 points for the
sixth-seeded Boilermakers (24-9), who play Big Ten rival Wisconsin
in Saturday's regional final. It will be the fourth meeting between
the teams, with Wisconsin winning twice, including the first round
of the Big Ten tournament.
In Keady's 20 seasons at Purdue, the Boilermakers have been to
the round of 16 five times, including the last three years. But
this will be just their second appearance in a regional final in
that span. Purdue lost to Duke in the Southeast final in 1994.
Carson Cunningham added 14 points, Greg McQuay scored 11 and
Cardinal had 10 for Purdue. Cardinal had eight rebounds, and
Cornell and McQuay grabbed seven apiece as Purdue dominated the
boards 44-33, 20-13 on the offensive end, and the margin was a lot
bigger most of the night.
"That's been one of our strengths all year -- offensive
rebounding," Cardinal said. "And we decided to go out every game
and go to the boards as hard as we can, because we know we have an
edge on most teams."
Casey Calvary scored 20 and Axel Dench 14 for No. 10 seed
Gonzaga (26-9). The Bulldogs' Richie Frahm scored 14 but nearly all
came late in the game. He was 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Matt
Santangelo, like Frahm in his final collegiate game, was 4-for-18
from the field, 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.
"Our game plan was just to make it as hard as possible for
Frahm and Santangelo to get looks," Cornell said. "They are a
great 3-point shooting ball team. Our main thing was to just meet
them at the 3-point line and try to push them out and make them
work as hard as we could."
Santangelo's cold shooting night mirrored the one he had in
Gonzaga's West regional final loss to eventual champion Connecticut
last year.
"Everything was just a little bit short," he said. "That's
just the way it goes."
Gonzaga, a small Jesuit college in Spokane, Wash., captured the
heart of basketball fans across the country last season with its
run to the West finals. This year, the Bulldogs were at it again,
until they were shut down by the Boilermakers.
"Well, it's one heck of a ride once again," Gonzaga coach Mark
Few said.
With four seniors on the team, the end was a severe jolt to the Zags.
"After we gave our little tribute to the crowd at the end of
the game and we ran off the floor and up the ramp, it hit me -- this
is the last time I'd feel any of this," Santangelo said. "It's
very emotional. It's been a wonderful run for all of us."
Gonzaga made several runs at Purdue.
Down 61-45 with six minutes to play, the Bulldogs scored eight
in a row, the last six by Calvary, to cut it to 61-53 with 3:35
remaining. But after a timeout, Cardinal scored inside, then batted
the ball to the backcourt to a teammate after Cornell's missed free
throw. Mike Robinson scored on a goaltending call against Calvary,
and Gonzaga's tournament magic had run out.
"It seems like our depth wore them down a little bit," Keady
said, "and after that we got some transition baskets and we just
kept hanging in there and playing good 'D.' "
The Boilermakers took control in the first half with a 17-2 run
that put them up 30-17 on Cardinal's two free throws with 5:03
left. Six Purdue players scored during the surge. Cornell and
McQuay had four points apiece, Cunningham hit a 3-pointer, Robinson
had a fastbreak basket and Kenny Lowe had a driving layup.
Frahm got off only three shots in the first 20 minutes, and
missed them all, including an embarrassing airball from 14 feet
that led to Robinson's inside basket early in Purdue's big run.
The Bulldogs made four of their first five shots en route to a
10-4 lead, but they made just five of 21 after that and went 4½
minutes without a point.
Trailing 35-22, Gonzaga outscored Purdue 10-2 to start the
second half to cut it to 37-32 when Frahm made one of two free
throws with 16:08 to play. But the Boilermakers scored the next 10
points, including 3-pointers by Chad Kerkhoff and Cornell to pull
ahead 47-32 with 12:17 to play.
Purdue has made it to the Final Four twice -- in 1969 and in
1980, the year before Keady became the team's coach.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brian Cardinal is looking forward to going to Indianapolis.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Matt Santangelo reflects on his last collegiate game.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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