March 10, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats

2005 BIG TEN

MEN'S BASKETBALL

TOURNAMENT

Game Two • March 10, 2005 • United Center • Chicago, Ill.

#7 Iowa 71, #10 Purdue 52

PURDUE COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

Head Coach Gene Keady:

Opening Statement:

"When you have 29 points taken out of your lineup you have to have somebody step up, and we didn't have anyone do that. They were just better than we were today. We couldn't stop them or slow them down. They made some tough shots early and took the lead, and we couldn't come back. I hope they qualify for the NCAA's because they deserve it."

On if his last season was worth coming back for:

"I think that will be answered in a couple of years. We will see how the recruiting went and how they develop. Iowa was just better than us. We have to get guys who are competitive and who can improve and have a good work ethic."

"Personally it was, because I had a very good relationship with the coaching staff. I've never been through this before, so I didn't know how it was going to be."

On Iowa's performance:

"When we beat them at our place that fired them up. We played a zone at our place, and they were ready for that today. We worked with a triangle-and-two the last few weeks getting ready for this tournament hoping we could use it, but we started man-to-man and they just got too big of a lead for us to settle."

On what he plans on doing next:

"Go home and do what my wife tells me. I don't know, there are a lot of things to do. I am picking the All-Star team for the Final Four, and we play the Globetrotters on the Friday before the Saturday game. My wife has some health issues, so as soon as she can get her surgery done she can get back to feeling good again. I have some stuff to do that is family related."

On his thoughts about not being the head coach of Purdue any more:

"I have been in school since the first grade. I always had to be some place ever since the first grade. I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow. I'll be an "E.B.", an errand boy."

On the thought of being finished:

"It's kind of pleasant. I'm going to do what my wife has always wanted me to do: stay home and do some work."

On how much he enjoyed coaching at Purdue and in the Big Ten:

"It's pretty obvious that I loved it here because I had a lot of opportunities to leave. I had a lot of friends in the community that have made me feel comfortable. I've moved four times before moving here. When people say 25 years, that's jus the tip of the iceberg. I had been coaching 22 years before that. You always had to get your certification upgraded, like getting a Master's or whatever since you were a teacher. It's a lot harder to teach and coach. So, when I started coaching, when you didn't have to teach and they would furnish your car, I was in heaven.

On what would entice him to coach again:

"It would have to be a good situation, warm weather and they better have some pretty damn good players already in the program. Those kinds of jobs aren't available."

David Teague:

On defining how this season has gone for him:

"It's frustrating. It's been a long tough season. We were faced with a lot of challenges and faced a lot of adversity. I'm still proud of my teammates because we still came to practice everyday and gave our all. Even though we were short-handed at times, we still fought hard. In the long run, that made us stronger."

On whether he saw a change in coach Keady at all this year:

"He has so much faith in his players. He makes us go out there and work hard and keep fighting every game. Even in situations with our back against the wall he looks at the positives and helps us keep going. He made us believe in ourselves, which made us play hard. He never changed all year."

Brandon McKnight:

On whether he used coach Keady's last game as motivation:

"I used it for motivation. Every game I try to have something to motivate me and for this whole tournament I wanted that to be my motivation."

On Iowa's great three point shooting:

"Iowa has two great shooting guards in Horner and Haluska and they have a great big man in Brunner. We needed to get help down low on Brunner and our rotation wasn't great on those shooters today. They needed to hit open shots and they did. They're tough to cover."

On whether he saw a change in coach Keady at all this year:

"I never saw a difference in him the whole year. I told people that he's the one who kept me going this season. I look at him and see how fired up he is and he proved to me at times that we really can do it. He really made me a believer. So, no I never saw a difference in him."

IOWA COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

Head Coach Steve Alford:

Opening Statement:

"Obviously, we have had some success in this tournament, and then, the last two years, we have been ousted in the first game. So, we really went into this tournament talking about the first time that we were here when we played well in December and we've been playing well towards the end of the season. To get 20 wins after losing our best player, and to go five and five speaks volumes for the effort they put forth. I am very pleased. We got two tournaments left and both are one and done tournaments, so its important to get that first win and move on. I thought the guys did every defensively that we could do to have an opportunity to move on."

On coaching against Coach Keady in his last game. Any words exchanged:

"No, not really. I told him when I last saw him in West Lafeyette that whether I was a player or a coach I respect all my colleagues very much and nobody has gained my respect more than coach Keady has because of the way he has done things. He has great ethics, great character, great integrity. He has done a tremendous job not just in wins, loses and championships, but I think he has been tremendous for guys like me who played in the 80's all the way to coaches that coach against him. He has done so much for our game at every level that he is going to be missed. It is going to effect the Big Ten. That happened a few years ago when we lost Coach Knight. I feel the same way in a lot of regards in losing Coach Keady. It's not going to be easy."

On tomorrow's game against MSU:

"They are a great transition team and a phenomenal rebounding team. Michigan State has about seven guys that can get double digits on us. They are really difficult to guard and extremely balanced. They have a ton of experience. They are on a mission. They are loaded with seniors, loaded with experience. All those things can scare you a little bit. I know our guys will show up and we will go out and fight against a top 10 team that in my mind has a chance to be a Final Four team."

Greg Brunner:

What does it feel like to play in Gene Keady's last game?:

"It's a great honor. He's one of the best coaches to ever coach college basketball and to play against his team is a great achievement. He does a lot of great things. I would love to play for him if I wasn't here because of his style of ball and the way he holds himself as a person."

Jeff Horner:

What does it feel like to play in Gene Keady's last game?:

"Growing up a Hawkeye fan and always seeing Iowa playing Purdue, which has always been a huge rivalry, and to see him on the sideline is amazing. To know that this is his last game, he will remember this game forever."

Was that the game plan to come out and shoot three's like you did?:

"We just took what was there. Actually, our first play was designed to get Greg Brunner the ball inside. We came out and had good, open looks. Adam and I made a couple of jump shots and Mike Henderson started getting into the flow. He (Henderson) was big tonight."

On what the keys are to beating Michigan State tomorrow:

"I think that stopping their transition and rebounding. I don't know what the rebounding was today, but I know that we were getting out rebounded at halftime. Their transition game is very good and we need to get out and run with them."

On playing Michigan State tomorrow:

"Hopefully, playing in this building twice already, and Michigan State not playing here before, we can use that to our advantage. They're a very good team and very athletic and we are going to have to come out fighting."