1985–86 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team represented Purdue University during the 1985–86 college basketball season. Led by head coach Gene Keady, the team played their home games at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers finished fourth in the Big Ten standings and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 6 seed in the Southeast Region.

1985–86 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	22–10 (11–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gene Keady (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Bruce Weber (6th season) Kevin Stallings (4th season)
Home arena	Mackey Arena

1985–86 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Michigan	14	–	4		.778			28	–	5		.848
No. 16 Indiana	13	–	5		.722			21	–	8		.724
No. 18 Michigan State	12	–	6		.667			23	–	8		.742
No. 19 Illinois	11	–	7		.611			22	–	10		.688
Purdue	10	–	8		.556			22	–	10		.688
Iowa	10	–	8		.556			20	–	12		.625
Ohio State	8	–	10		.444			19	–	14		.576
Minnesota	5	–	13		.278			15	–	16		.484
Wisconsin	4	–	14		.222			12	–	16		.429
Northwestern	2	–	16		.111			8	–	20		.286
Rankings from AP Poll

Purdue was upset in the opening round by No. 11 seed and eventual Final Four participant LSU, 94–87 in 2OT, in a game that was played on the Tigers home floor. The Boilermakers finished the season with a 22–10 record (11–7 Big Ten).

Roster

1985–86 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 11 Mack Gadis 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Sr Indianapolis, Indiana G/F 20 Doug Lee 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Washington, Illinois G 21 Everette Stephens 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Evanston, Illinois G 23 Troy Lewis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Toledo, Ohio F 30 Kip Jones 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Fr   F 33 Todd Mitchell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Anderson, Indiana F 35 Melvin McCants 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Chicago, Illinois	Head coach Gene Keady (Kansas State) Assistant coach(es) Bruce Weber (Milwaukee) Kevin Stallings (Purdue) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference Regular Season
Nov 26, 1985*		Stetson	W 88–52	1–0	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Nov 29, 1985*		at Alaska Anchorage Great Alaska Shootout	W 92–70	2–0	Sullivan Arena  Anchorage, Alaska
Nov 30, 1985*		vs. No. 1 North Carolina Great Alaska Shootout	L 62–73	2–1	Sullivan Arena  Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 1, 1985*		vs. Arizona Great Alaska Shootout	W 81–74	3–1	Sullivan Arena  Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 3, 1985*		San Francisco State	W 82–70	4–1	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 5, 1985*		Morehead State	W 81–71	5–1	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 7, 1985*		at No. 16 Louisville	L 58–77	5–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 9, 1985*		at Southern Illinois	W 86–67	6–2	Banterra Center  Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 15, 1985*		Toledo	W 72–56	7–2	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 21, 1985*		Detroit	W 79–59	8–2	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 23, 1985*		No. 20 DePaul	W 71–56	9–2	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Big Ten Regular Season
Mar 8, 1986		at Iowa	L 64–77	22–9 (11–7)	Carver-Hawkeye Arena  Iowa City, Iowa
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1986*		vs. (SE #11) LSU First Round	L 87–94 2OT	22–10	LSU Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings