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BOX SCORE
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- As improbable as it seems, it's "On Wisconsin!"
The pesky, patient Badgers are headed to the Final Four, a
journey they last made 59 years ago.
"What can I say?" Wisconsin's Jon Bryant said. "Who would
have thought this was possible? A month and a half ago, we were
just trying to get into the tournament. But here we are going to
the Final Four."
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Purdue students jailed
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Fifteen people were in custody
Sunday after Purdue fans overturned a dumpster and started bonfires
following the Boilermakers' loss in the NCAA Tournament.
More than 300 students took to the streets Saturday night and
early Sunday after the Boilermakers' 64-60 defeat by Wisconsin in
the West Regional final.
Students wandered around the campus causing damage, before
police in riot gear used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The 15 being held at the Tippecanoe County Jail appeared to be
students, Indiana State police said. They were booked on charges of
public intoxication, resisting law enforcement and disorderly
conduct. One was jailed for attempted arson.
Police arrested several others and released them at the scene.
Those students face mandatory court hearings.
The scene was mild compared to a disturbance Thursday involving
5,000 students. Four students were arrested after that celebration
ended with a bonfire and property damage.
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Coach Dick Bennett's eighth-seeded team put on another clinic of
precision passing and pressure defense Saturday to beat Purdue for
the third time this season, 64-60, and complete an unlikely rise
from sixth place in the Big Ten to champions of the NCAA West
Regional.
"There really aren't any words," said Bennett. "I could not be happier, prouder. The game unfolded as I thought it would and once we got control of the basketball and didn't turn it over in the second half than I thought we had a
chance if we didn't get killed on the boards.
"Whatever superlative you can think of, use those words," said Bennett. "I feel indescribably happy."
The Badgers (22-13), whose only big-time basketball success came
when they won the NCAA title in 1941, held the Boilermakers without
a field goal for nearly six minutes late in the game to become the
lowest-seeded team to advance to the Final Four since 1986 when LSU
made it as a No. 11 seed and the first eighth seed since Villanova won the national championship in 1985.
Roy Boone scored 12 points for Wisconsin, twice his season
average, six of them in the final 2:45. The reserve guard's short
jumper put the Badgers up 56-53 with 2:45 remaining, then he made
two free throws with 1:08 to play to make it 60-53 and two more to
boost the lead to 63-57 with 17.6 seconds to go.
Bryant, who transferred from Division II St. Cloud (Minn.) State in
1997, scored 18 points, including 5-of-9 3-pointers, and was
selected the regional MVP.
"Their team defense and his 3-pointers really cut our
throats," Purdue coach Gene Keady said.
Andy Kowske added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Brian Cardinal scored all 13 of his points in the second half
for Purdue (24-10), but it wasn't quite enough. Carson Cunningham
also scored 13, including a 3-pointer that cut Wisconsin's lead to
63-60 with 11.5 seconds to play. But Mike Kelley, the Big Ten
defensive player of the year who forced Purdue's Jaraan Cornell
into another miserable shooting day, made one of two free throws
with 10.6 seconds left to clinch the victory.
Cardinal, one of four senior starters for the Boilermakers,
broke down in the postgame news conference.
|  | | Wisconsin's Maurice Linton shoots over Purdue's Jaraan Cornell. |
"Wisconsin's a great team," he said. "I really couldn't do
too much, so my hat's off to them."
Cornell, 1-for-7 from the field in Wisconsin's victory over
Purdue two weeks ago in the first round of the Big Ten tournament,
was 1-for-9 this time, 1-for-7 from 3-point range.
The loss deprived Keady of his first trip to the Final Four. It
was the second time the Boilermakers have made it to a regional
final in Keady's 20 years at the school. They lost to Duke in the
Southeast in 1994.
"We just try to play great basketball and if that gets you to
the Final Four, great," Keady said. "You know how hard it is, and
if that bothers a coach, he probably ought to get out of it."
The Badgers beat the Boilermakers three consecutive times after
losing at Purdue early in the conference season.
When it was over, as the band blared the old fight song "On
Wisconsin," Badgers players and fans rushed to the center of the
court. Three players jumped on a courtside table in front of a
large section of shrieking Wisconsin fans. The table collapsed,
sending writers' laptop computers, soft drinks and the players onto
the court, but no one was hurt.
The victory was especially rewarding to Bennett, whose rise
through the coaching ranks in the state of Wisconsin was as slow
and steady as his team's offense. He was a successful high school
coach, then was a winner at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and
Wisconsin-Green Bay.
He was passed over twice for the Wisconsin job before finally
getting his chance five years ago. But he had his critics, who
complained he wasn't winning enough and his style was boring. The
Badgers were just 13-12 after a loss at Michigan State on Feb. 19.
But they are 9-1 since then, with the only loss to Michigan State
in the Big Ten tournament.
They'll get another shot at the Spartans on Saturday in the
national semifinals in Indianapolis. Michigan State beat Iowa State 75-64 in the Midwest final in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Purdue held its previous three tournament opponents to 16-
percent shooting from 3-point range, but Wisconsin was 7-for-16.
The Badgers were 5-for-7 on 3-pointers in the first half and led
31-28 at the break. Bryant made three in the first 3:20.
The Boilermakers led by one point twice in the second half, the
last time at 50-49 on Cardinal's bank shot with 6:54 to play.
Bryant's 3-pointer with 5:45 to go put Wisconsin back on top 52-50.
Cardinal tied it at 52 with two free throws with 5:23 remaining
before Kowske, who drew his fourth foul with 9:48 to go, took a
slick pass from Bryant on the baseline and scored to make it 54-52.
Mike Robinson, who scored 12 points, made one of two free throws
with 3:01 remaining to cut the lead to 54-53, then Boone, who had
blown a wide-open layup a minute earlier, sank a 12-footer to make
it 56-53.
"I just had to put that last play behind me," Boone said.
"When they fouled me down the stretch, it dawned on me we were
going to the Final Four."
Purdue went without a field goal from the 6:54 mark until Greg
McQuay's tip with 56 seconds to go.
"It was very intense," Robinson said. "As Coach said, they
got the job done on defense. We try not to think about it right now
because the season is over. It's not like we can go right back out
there and play again."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Wisconsin NCAA Team Report
Purdue NCAA Team Report
Chat: NCAA Tourney
Katz: Badgers believe now
Once again, Purdue coach Keady falls short
Spartans surge past Cyclones, return to Final Four
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Gene Keady says his team just tries to play good basketball.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mike Kelley says Wisconsin basketball is about winning.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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