Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena
West Lafayette, Indiana, is home to one of the top programs in the Big Ten Conference. The Purdue Boilermakers play at Mackey Arena, which first opened in 1967 and currently seats 14,804. The Boilermakers are coached by Matt Painter, who played under the legendary Gene Keady in the late 1980s and early '90s, and replaced Keady after the 2005 season. Purdue has reached the NCAA Final Four twice: in 1969, when they lost the national championship game to UCLA, and in 1980, when they defeated Iowa 73-58 in the penultimate third-place game. The Boilermakers also won the 1974 NIT championship, as well as reaching the NIT finals in 1979 and 1982.
Purdue Boilermakers Men's Basketball History
Purdue University first fielded a varsity men's basketball team in 1896, with the team joining the Big Ten Conference in 1905. Under Hall of Fame coach Ward "Piggy" Lambert, Purdue won 11 conference titles, and was retroactively awarded the 1932 national championship. George King coached Purdue to their first Final Four in 1969, while the Boilermakers won the 1974 NIT championship under Fred Schaus. Lee Rose led the Boilermakers to a 50-18 record, an NIT championship appearance and a Final Four berth in his only two seasons at Purdue, with the help of 1980 NBA No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Barry Carroll at center.
When Rose left to coach the University of South Florida in 1980, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head coach Gene Keady filled the void, with Purdue missing postseason tournament play only three times in his 25 seasons with the Boilermakers. Purdue made the Elite Eight twice under Keady: in 1994, led by future No. 1 draft pick Glenn Robinson Jr. and current Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin, and in 2000. Matt Painter has continued the tradition of excellence at Purdue, with his team reaching the Elite Eight in 2019 after defeating Old Dominion, reigning national champion Villanova, and Tennessee before bowing to Virginia in overtime.