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Purdue hopes to make home-state Final Four in Indy

Purdues players arent hiding the fact that theyd love to play in the Final Four down the road in Indianapolis.

The Boilermakers hope to have a run similar to Michigan States last season, when the Spartans reached the national title game in Detroit before losing to North Carolina.

Purdue has advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament in three straight seasons, winning 74 games in that span, but hasnt reached the regional finals.

This Boilermakers squad expects more.

Weve been to the Sweet 16, forward Robbie Hummel said during media day on Tuesday. Its great to get there. At this point, we feel we want to take the next step and go to the Final Four.

Purdue returns its entire starting lineup from last years team that lost to Connecticut in the Sweet 16. The top three scorers, Hummel, ETwaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, are all back.

Defensive stopper Chris Kramer, point guard Lewis Jackson and 3-point shooter Keaton Grant also return.

Kramer said the fact that the Final Four will be played 65 miles from campus is something the players think about.

Its every teams dream, and with the Final Four being in Indianapolis, its that much more motivation to get there, Kramer said.

Even Coach Matt Painter acknowledged the significance.

Its great that the Final Four is in Indianapolis, and weve got some good pieces and some guys that are hungry and want to get there, but we also have to keep things in perspective and stay on edge, he said.

Painter hasnt always fielded questions about the Final Four; Purdue went 9-19 in 2005-06, his first year with the team. Perhaps thats why hes a bit more reserved about the teams goals than his players.

We havent won our league, Painter said. I think thats probably the number one goal for us because of the order its in.

Before that, the Boilermakers must avoid falling flat again in important non-conference games.

I thought last year we had some consistency, but when it came to a big game – against an Oklahoma or against a Duke – we have to be able to win those games, Painter said. We have to be able to step up and show weve made those improvements and that we can rebound better, and weve got more maturity and were tougher.

The Boilermakers said they learned from the 72-60 Sweet 16 loss to UConn, which outrebounded the Boilermakers 48-33.

The biggest thing we carried over is how strong and physical they were, and how dominant they were on the glass, Kramer said. When you dont make shots, youve got to be able to win games. We didnt rebound enough, so everybody hit the weight room, and everybody got stronger.

Getting stronger is one reason the Boilermakers dare to dream of ending their season at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It definitely would be like a home game, Moore said. All our fans would be there.