BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Just one thing spoiled Gene Keady's final game at Indiana's Assembly Hall on Tuesday night.
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The Hoosiers won, handily.
Bracey Wright, who missed three of the past four games with an ankle injury, scored 27 points as Indiana beat Purdue 79-62, another defeat in what has become the worst season in the retiring Keady's 25 years as coach of the Boilermakers.
For Indiana, still on the bubble for a possible NCAA Tournament bid, the game may have been one of its best.
"It was our best game defensively," coach Mike Davis said. "The effort and the intensity were definitely there. Everybody played well.
"Bracey shot well, didn't force anything and let the game come to him."
Wright, who had 19 points in the second half, led the Hoosiers with seven rebounds and committed only one foul in 37 minutes.
"I felt good," Wright said. "The ankle was holding up. It felt good to see the ball go through the basket like that, especially from the 3. It was all clicking for me."
Wright was 5-of-6 from 3-point range in the second half.
Purdue (7-17, 3-10 Big Ten) stayed close in the first half, even leading early in the game, but Indiana (13-11, 8-5) ran off 20 straight points in the first eight minutes of the second half, and Purdue never recovered.
Wright had 11 points during that run, including three straight 3-pointers, and the Hoosiers took their biggest lead at 56-32 before Brandon McKnight hit the Boilermakers' first basket in more than six minutes.
"They kind of got rattled a little bit and our crowd got into it," Wright said of Purdue's collapse. "Our players really stepped up, especially on defense."
David Teague led Purdue with 26 points and Carl Landry added 20.
Freshmen A.J. Ratliff and D.J. White added 15 and 14, respectively, for the Hoosiers.
The loss left Keady with a 23-27 record against Indiana, 6-18 in Assembly Hall, and fans began chanting "Goodbye, Keady" with about three minutes to go.
Before the game, the fans gave Keady a warm, standing ovation as he walked onto the court and he received a parting gift -- a portrait of him painted on a section of the Assembly Hall floor -- from Davis.
"The ovation was very much appreciated," Keady said. "It's pretty unusual when you have this kind of rivalry. I'll remember that for a long time. But I'll remember the butt-kicking they gave us longer."
The Hoosiers led 34-30 at halftime, and Purdue was still within four points before White started the 20-point run. The next four baskets -- interspersed with Purdue fouls and turnovers -- were all 3-pointers.
The Boilermakers came within 15 points with eight minutes to go, but Wright hit two more 3-pointers and the Hoosiers stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the game.
"Both teams played hard in the first half," Keady said. "But you have to take it up a notch in the second half if you're playing on the road. We let them take up the intensity, and that was it.
"They shot well, rebounded, did the things you have to do to win."
The victory gave Davis a 7-2 record against Keady in the five years since Bob Knight was fired. Davis said Purdue "has had its struggles this year" but that he hoped Keady would continue coaching somewhere.
"He taught me a lot, just going against his teams," Davis said.
