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NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT / MIDWEST REGIONAL AT INDIANAPOLIS : Georgetown, Purdue Join Ranks of Stunned Teams : Texas: Boilermaker coach criticizes officiating after Travis Mays makes two free throws with seven seconds left to give Longhorns a 73-72 victory.

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From Associated Press

While Texas celebrated its 73-72 upset victory over No. 10-ranked Purdue Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, Boilermaker Coach Gene Keady launched into an obscenity-laced tirade against the officiating.

“We’ve got good kids who work hard and they’re in there crying their eyes out because we’ve got guys (officials) who don’t understand the game,” he said.

Travis Mays knew exactly what he had to do when he stepped to the free-throw line with seven seconds left. He made two free throws and then Guillermo Myers blocked a shot as time ran out, sending Texas into the regional semifinals in Dallas Friday against No. 25 Xavier (Ohio), which upset No. 8 Georgetown, 74-71.

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Mays’ shots hit nothing but net despite hoots and howls from a mostly Purdue crowd of 40,000 at the Hoosier Dome.

“When I got to the free-throw line I wasn’t nervous at all. I thought I was going to knock them down,” said Mays, who committed a turnover on the previous Texas possession.

“I was nervous when the ball went out of bounds (on the previous possession). I was just hoping we could regain possession.”

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Mays grabbed his own missed shot and was fouled as he went back up. Tony Jones, who missed a three-point attempt with 25 seconds left, then drove the lane only to encounter Myers, who knocked away Jones’ jumper.

“We’ve been coming from behind all year long and somebody always has to come up big,” Texas coach Tom Penders said.

It was the second loss in eight days for Purdue, which lost a chance to tie Michigan State for the Big Ten championship, 72-70, the previous Sunday.

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Keady, who didn’t say he was upset about anything in particular, was just angry about the officiating in general.

“People cheat and you can’t get calls,” he said. “They charge and you don’t get calls.

“The same thing happened in the Michigan State game. It gets old. We run a program, graduate all your kids, you don’t cheat. You do things right and the referees are all the same.”

The Longhorns (23-8), who trailed, 56-47, with 12 minutes left, capitalized on missed free throws and Purdue turnovers.

The Boilermakers (22-8) missed the front end of three consecutive one-and-one opportunities while the Longhorns kept getting closer.

A jump shot by Joey Wright, who led the Longhorns with 20 points, gave Texas its first lead of the second half, 69-68. The lead changed hands three times before Mays, who finished with 16 points, made the free throws.

Stephen Scheffler led Purdue with 18 points. But he was ineffective against the aggressive, physical Texas defense, making only six of 16 shots. But he finished his career with a shooting percentage of .686, breaking the NCAA record of .678 set by Steve Johnson of Oregon State.

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Scheffler made two free throws to put Purdue ahead, 72-71, with 1:47 remaining. The Boilermakers then seemed to have the victory when Mays dropped the ball and it went out of bounds with 1:22 left. Purdue was unable to get the ball inside before Jones put up his shot from three-point range.

Jones couldn’t get his last shot past Myers.

“I saw an opening, tried to penetrate and took it,” Jones said, adding that he didn’t feel any contact from Myers.

Lance Blanks scored 19 points for Texas before fouling out with 1:47 left.

The Boilermakers, playing patiently on offense as opposed to the Longhorns’ run-and-gun style, built a 35-33 lead at halftime following two free throws by Jones with 51 seconds remaining.

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