College Basketball: Stanford advances to NIT title game
Anthony Brown scored a season-high 18 points and Josh Owens had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help Stanford advance to the NIT championship game with a 74-64 win over Massachusetts on Tuesday night in New York.
Anthony Brown scored a season-high 18 points and Josh Owens had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help Stanford advance to the NIT championship game with a 74-64 win over Massachusetts on Tuesday night in New York.
The Minutemen took their first lead since early in the game with about eight minutes left, but Brown hit a three-pointer to push the Cardinal back on top, then later scored seven points during an 11-3 run that put Stanford in control.
Stanford (25-11) will meet Minnesota or Washington in the NIT final Thursday night at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Brooklyn native Chaz Williams led UMass (25-12) with 19 points.
Fernandez an all-star
Temple senior guard Juan Fernandez will participate in the State Farm College three-point contest at Tulane University in New Orleans on Thursday. It will be televised live at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
Fernandez was already scheduled to be in New Orleans to compete in the Reese's College all-star game at the Louisiana Superdome on Saturday.
Temple to play at MSG
The Temple men's basketball team will face Syracuse in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22.
Temple finished this season with a 24-8 record and lost to South Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Orange (34-3) lost to Ohio State in Saturday's East Regional final.
UConn loses center
Connecticut center Alex Oriakhi has been granted his release from the basketball program.
The 6-foot-9 junior, a key piece of UConn's 2011 national championship run, informed coaches last week that he planned to transfer.
His father told the Hearst Connecticut Media Group that Oriakhi made the decision because Connecticut is expected to be academically ineligible for next season's NCAA tournament.
UConn spokesman Mike Enright said Oriakhi was granted the release Tuesday.
Should UConn be barred from next year's tournament, Oriakhi could play immediately at another school. If UConn is successful in appealing the tournament ban, Oriakhi would have to sit out a year before using his final year of eligibility.
Marquette keeps coach
Facing speculation about his future at Marquette, coach Buzz Williams has issued a statement that seems to reaffirm his commitment to the school.
Expressing excitement about next season, Williams says, "The future remains bright for our program."
– Associated Press