Purdue Stuns No. 2 Miami (FL)

Purdue, which stumbled into the NCAA tournament, ran past second-seeded Miami 73-63 Sunday and into the regional semifinals for the second year in a row.

The 10th-seeded Boilermakers, who lost five of six games to close the regular season and waited anxiously to see their name on Selection Sunday, took control against the Hurricanes in the second round of the East Regional by closing the first half with a 15-0 run for a 32-17 lead.

Miami finally started hitting some shots and was within 43-38 with 11:05 left, but the Boilermakers went on a 15-2 run to match their biggest lead, 56-40, with 6:21 left.

Purdue (21-12) will play sixth-seeded Temple, which beat third-seeded Cincinnati 64-54, on Friday at East Rutherford, N.J. The Boilermakers, who beat seventh-seeded Texas in the first round, lost in the round of 16 last year to Stanford. The other regional semifinal will have top-seeded Duke against No. 12 Southwest Missouri State.

Miami's loss at the FleetCenter left Maryland as the only No. 2 seed still alive in the tournament after two rounds.

Brian Cardinal led Purdue with 20 points, while Tim James had 19 to lead the Hurricanes.

Miami (23-7) had entered the tournament having won nine of 10 games, and its opening-round win over 15th-seeded Lafayette was the first NCAA win in the school's third appearance.

Purdue's solid defense and Miami's worst half of the season combined for the Boilermakers' big halftime lead.

The Hurricanes' previous low half had been 21 points, but they rallied to beat Rutgers in that game. Miami was 6-for-33 (18.2 percent) in the opening half against Purdue and it didn't score for the final 7:23, missing nine shots and turning the ball over five times in that span.

Purdue's closing run featured three 3-pointers, two by Cardinal, including one from the head of he key with three seconds left as the 35-second shot clock ran out.

When Miami closed within 43-38 with 11:05 to play, Cardinal started the 15-2 run with another 3 and a layup after a steal, and reserve Mike Robinson added six more points in the burst. The 16-point deficit matched Miami's largest of the season and the closest the Hurricanes got the rest of the way was eight points.

Miami shot 32.9 percent, their worst outing of the season, and even Johnny Hemsley, who was 9-for-12 from 3-point range and had 31 points in the opening round, finished 5-for-13 and had 13 points against Purdue.

©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed