NIT Results - Wednesday, March 17
Notre Dame 71, Purdue 59
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ Chris Quinn scored 21 points and Rick Cornett added a career-high 16 Wednesday night, leading Notre Dame to a 71-59 victory over Purdue in first round of the NIT.
The Boilermakers (17-14), who trailed 39-30 at halftime, used a 22-12 run to take a 52-51 lead in the second half. Notre Dame (18-12), which shot 50 percent in the first half, missed its first 10 shots after halftime.
But the Irish made four of five shots down the stretch and ended the game with a 20-7 run.
The Fighting Irish will play at Saint Louis in the second round.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ Todd Billet made five of Virginia's 13 3-pointers in possibly his final home game. Billet, the lone senior who plays for Virginia, led the Cavaliers with 19 points.
Virginia (18-12), playing in the NIT for the third straight year and fourth time in six seasons under coach Pete Gillen, will play Villanova in the second round.
George Washington (18-12) was making its first postseason appearance since the 1999 NCAA tournament and playing in the NIT for the first time since 1997.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) _ Freshman Quincy Douby scored a career-high 28 points in his first start and Rutgers rallied from an eight-point deficit. The victory was the Scarlet Knights' first in a nonconference postseason tournament since the NIT in 1999.
Rutgers (17-12) will face the winner of a first-round game between Rhode Island and West Virginia.
David Hawkins, the nation's fourth-leading scorer with a 24.4 average, had 25 in his final game at Temple.
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) _ Randy Foye and Allan Ray each scored 20 points, and Curtis Sumpter had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ray scored eight straight points during Villanova's decisive 18-0 run that turned a 10-point deficit into a 53-45 lead midway through the second half.
Sean Brooks scored a career-high 24 points for Drexel (18-11), which never has beaten Villanova (17-16) in 17 tries.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ Tim Pickett scored 25 points to lead Florida State (19-13) to a pair of comebacks. Pickett hit three second-half 3-point shots to help the Seminoles rally from a 14-point deficit. Florida State, which snapped a five-game losing streak, also had to come back from six points down in the first overtime.
Jamar Howard and Fridge Holman had 16 points each to lead the Shockers (21-11).
LOGAN, Utah (AP) _ Michael Kuebler scored 28 points, one point shy of his career-high, and the Warriors (20-11) scored their first-ever road win over a ranked opponent. Hawaii (20-11) shot 62 percent and had four players score in double figures. Hawaii plays the winner of Nebraska-Niagara in the second round.
Utah State's Spencer Nelson had a double-double with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. The Aggies, the only ranked team in the NIT, finished 25-4.
AMES, Iowa (AP) _ Jackson Vroman scored 23 points, Curtis Stinson had 21 and Iowa State shot a school-record 74.4 percent. The Cyclones (18-12) were 17-for-21 from the field in the second half, but could not pull away until scoring 11 straight points for a 68-56 lead with 3:37 left.
Georgia (16-14) hung with Iowa State by making 12 of 27 3-point shots.
The Cyclones will play Florida State in the second round.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Freshmen Brandon Foust and Drew Lavender combined for 34 points. The Sooners, absent from the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade, clinched their seventh consecutive 20-win season _ quite an accomplishment considering their undersized lineup and reliance on four freshman in the final part of the season.
Oklahoma (20-10) moves on to face Michigan (19-11) in the second round.
LSU (18-11) closed its season by dropping seven of its final eight games.
OPENING ROUND
KENT, Ohio (AP) _ Tyrone Sally scored 17 points and braved a bloody nose from a second-half collision to lead West Virginia. It was the first postseason win for the Mountaineers (16-13) since they reached the regional semifinals of the 1998 NCAA tournament. The Golden Flashes (22-9) lost six of their final eight games.
Sally scored only two points in the final 7:17, but his defense in the middle of a 1-3-1 zone helped force four turnovers down the stretch, when the Mountaineers outscored the Golden Flashes 19-11.
AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) _ Tremmell Darden had 26 points and Juan Mendez added 20 points and 16 rebounds. Niagara, which trailed by 17 points, advanced to the first round and will play at Nebraska on Friday.
Greg Davis had 18 points and Rob Lewin added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Troy State (24-7), making its first NIT appearance.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) _ George Mason won its first postseason game in 18 years and gave the Patriots (22-9) a school record for wins in a season. The school won its first tournament game since the 1986 NIT. George Mason had since gone 0-3 in the NCAA tournament and 0-2 in the NIT.
Tony Skinn scored 16 points, and Terry Reynolds got George Mason's last eight points to finish with 15. Brandon Crump scored 16 points to lead Tennessee (15-14), which was hurt by 18 turnovers.
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) _ Rhode Island opened a double-digit lead in the first six minutes and was never threatened. Steve Mello led Rhode Island (20-13) with 13 points and Dawn Robinson added 12.
Rhode Island surpassed the highest point total scored on Boston University (20-6) this season with 7:27 remaining as Mello hit a 3-pointer for a 75-39 lead. BU came in ranked 12th in the nation with 58.8 points allowed per game.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Austin Peay had an 11-0 run over a two-minute stretch late in the second half, then weathered a rally by Belmont in the final minute.
The Governors (22-9) scored their final 14 points during a span of 1:40 to extend their home winning streak to 29 games. Belmont (21-9) rallied in the final 40 seconds to 59-57 with 19 seconds left.
However, the Governors, who attempted 30 free throws to just four for the Bruins, were made their final six foul shots _ two each by Josh Lewis, Adrian Henning and Corey Gipson.
MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Dylan Page scored 22 points, Ed McCants added 21 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee blew out Rice. It was the first win ever for Wisconsin-Milwaukee (20-10) in a postseason tournament.
Brock Gillespie led the Owls (22-11) with 15 points. The last postseason appearance for Rice was in the 1993 NIT.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Bryan Defares had 12 points and a school-record 13 assists, and Aaron Haynes added 20 points. Boise State (22-9) advanced to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UNLV, which trailed by as many as 26 points, fought back with a 17-3 run midway through the second half to pull to 73-64 with 5:44 left. But Book Nabors hit a 3-pointer with 5:16 left to increase BSU's lead to 76-64 and the Rebels (18-13) never threatened again.
