After their solid 75-66 victory over Gonzaga before 16,004 here at The Pit, the Boilermakers are a game away from giving 20th-year Gene Keady a spot in his first Final Four.

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If that happens, Purdue (24-9) will only have a 90-minute drive from its campus in West Lafayette, Ind., to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, where the national semifinals and championship game will be held April 1 and 3.

"That's been our mission, trying to get home," Keady said. "But 40 minutes is a loooooong time. One game's going to be large. Hopefully, we can play our best basketball of the year."

It was for the Bulldogs, especially senior point guard Matt Santangelo, Thursday night.

Purdue point guard Carson Cunningham might as well take those glass slippers of Gonzaga's back to his garden, behind the house he lives in in West Lafayette, and bury them between his apple trees and magnolias.

Cunningham was influential in burying the Bulldogs, since he was mostly responsible for pestering Santangelo into a 4-for-18 shooting night, for only nine points. A year ago, Santangelo tallied only two points in a West Regional final loss to Connecticut.

"So I'm kinda used to this," Santangelo said.

It also was painfully obvious to Bulldogs fans that their team was not used to playing a bruising and banging Big Ten team nearly a mile above sea level. Purdue had a 23-2 edge on Gonzaga in second-chance points, and the Boilers hit 20 of their 30 free throws to 7-of-11 for the 'Dogs.

Gonzaga (26-9) punished Purdue down low to open the game, and it scored 10 of the game's first 14 points. But the Bulldogs slowed down in a hurry. Santangelo missed three shots, Frahm missed two and the first television timeout was called with 12 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the opening half.

Five more timeouts were called in the next nine minutes, and those were the catalysts for Purdue shifting into its plodding style and for Gonzaga to reach for the oxygen masks. Problem was, there weren't any.

In between those six timeouts, the Boilermakers turned a 13-10 deficit into a 32-19 lead, a run that kept Purdue ahead the rest of the way. The Bulldogs' points in that arrived on a dunk, a layup and two free throws.

"This is one of the five most historic places in college basketball," said Purdue forward Mike Robinson, who stymied sharpshooter Richie Frahm into a 5-of-12 performance, including 1-for-6 beyond the 3-point line. "We didn't want to come in here and stink it up."

First-year Gonzaga coach Mark Few said he noticed fatigue set into his players during that first timeout.

"It took a lot of gas out of us," Few said. "We were talking about being the most physical team out there, and for one reason or another we just didn't get it done. They really handed it to us on the boards."

Purdue had a 44-33 edge on the glass, with 20 of those rebounds coming on its offensive end. While Gonzaga was grabbing its shorts to grab a breath or two, Purdue was busy grabbing everything bouncing off the rim or the glass.

Forward Brian Cardinal had a fine line, finishing with 10 points, eight boards (four on offense) and five assists. Jaraan Cornell had 18 points and three of his seven rebounds on offense, while Greg McQuay recorded 11 points, and five of his seven boards were offensive.

Looking and sounding like a burly Woody Harrelson, Cardinal said offensive rebounding was Purdue's forte all season, if not a staple of the entire 20 years of the Keady era.

"We go to the boards as hard as we can," Cardinal said. "I know we have an edge on most teams. It's amazing. One more game, 40 minutes, and we'll be able to go home. Hopefully, we can do it. What we can control is playing hard. One thing we'll do is play hard."

Behind 35-22 at the half, Gonzaga again raced out of the blocks to score nine of the first 11 points at the start of the second half. Keady called for a 30-second timeout, and at least 80 percent of the crowd started cheering for the underdogs from the Pacific Northwest.

On the court, Keady blasted his players for playing defensively, for not playing with active feet and hands, and for watching the clock.

"They were trying to get out of here," Keady said, "and we had to get aggressive."

Purdue coach Gene Keady has never led a Purdue team to the Final Four.(AP)

When play resumed, Frahm hit a free throw to cut Gonzaga's deficit to 37-32. Then Purdue started moving its feet and hands on defense, and it took the rest of the air out of a second consecutive Elite Eight appearance by the Bulldogs by scoring the next 10 points.

"We don't pay attention to crowds, so there was no pressure on us," Robinson said.

"It gets so loud," Cardinal said. "And it was just intense from the beginning."

Just the way the deep Boilermakers like it. Early and often, Purdue's players requested breathers to battle the elevation, which proved to be more challenging than the Bulldogs. Eight Boilermakers played at least 10 minutes, and they were coming in and out two and three at a time.

Cardinal said he got tired very early, and Keady gave all of his players the freedom to come out whenever they desired.

"Our guys are pretty smart," Keady said. "I wouldn't have even minded starting the second five in the second half. They wouldn't have played long, but I wouldn't have had a problem with it."

Not when his entire team had imposed its Big Ten will on Gonzaga for as long as it did. The big game will be Saturday, when Keady gets his second shot at the Final Four. Duke kept him from it in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1994.

Keady knows. If he doesn't get to the Final Four now, it might be a loooooong time before he's back.