Keady: Elite Eight, not Final Four
Associated Press
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.
|  | | 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. |
