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Buckeyes meet Minutemen for NIT Title

Thu 3rd, April 2008

New York, NY (Sports Network) - The NIT title is up for grabs this evening in New York City, as the Massachusetts Minutemen and the Ohio State Buckeyes battle in the Championship Game at famed Madison Square Garden.

The Minutemen are seeking their fourth national title in any sport in school history and are making their deepest postseason run ever in basketball. The team has lived dangerously however in tournament play this year, as UMass has won the last three games of this event in come-from-behind fashion, including knocking off two-time national champion Florida on Tuesday in the semifinals, 78-66. Other tournament wins for the Minutemen include topping Stephen F. Austin (80-60), Akron (68-63) and Syracuse (81-77).

The Buckeyes on the other hand, have been dominant in this event, including an 81-69 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday. OSU also posted double-digit victories over UNC Asheville (84-66), California (73-56) and Dayton (74-63). With the win over the Rebels, the Buckeyes are now 1-1 in games played in the month of April, having lost to Florida in the NCAA Title game on April 2nd of last year. This is Ohio State's third NIT Final, winning the event in 1986. The Buckeyes are now 17-7 all-time in NIT play.

This game is the third all-time meeting between these two teams, with OSU claiming victory in both the 2000-01 season and the 2001-02 campaign.

UMass played its first-ever basketball game in the month of April on Tuesday and ended Florida's postseason reign of terror with a gutsy come-from-behind victory. The Minutemen shot a miserable .324 from the floor in the first half and trailed by nine points at the break, but came out firing in the second half, draining .533 from the floor en route to 51 points over the final 20 minutes to capture the win. Atlantic-10 Player of the Year Gary Forbes led the charge with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by fellow starters Dante' Milligan (17 pts), Ricky Harris (16 pts) and Chris Lowe (16 pts). Milligan was effective on the boards as well, completing a double-double with 12 rebounds. There is no shortage of offensive options for UMass this season, with four of the team's five starters averaging double figures. Forbes is the top threat and is as versatile as they come, averaging 19.5 points and 7.6 rebounds, while also making his presence felt as a distributor (104 assists). Harris was named the A-10's Most Improved Player and pours in 18.0 ppg, thanks in large part to his team-high 97 three-pointers. Etienne Brower (12.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg) aids in the frontcourt, while Lowe (11.9 ppg, A-10-leading 6.2 apg) complements Harris in the backcourt. All that firepower has led to an impressive scoring average of 81.4 ppg.

The Buckeyes have not shown the same kind of offensive production over the course of the year, but that has changed in this tournament, with the team netting 78.0 ppg, almost 10 points more than its season average (68.3 ppg). Only Jamar Butler (14.9 ppg) and Kosta Koufos (14.2 ppg) are boasting double- digit scoring averages on the season, but tournament play has brought out the best of a few other Buckeyes, as four players are averaging double figures in this event. It is still Butler and Koufos leading the charge with 17.5 and 17.3 ppg, respectively. However, David Lighty (11.5 ppg) and Othello Hunter (10.3 ppg) have stepped up as well. The Buckeyes hauled in a whopping 50 rebounds against Ole Miss, the second-most this season for OSU, leading to a rather easy win over the Rebels. The team got off to a fast start and took a 22-point lead into halftime and then put it in cruise control over the final 20 minutes. Four of the five starters finished in double figures, with Butler and Evan Turner tying for team-high honors with 17 points apiece. Lighty and Koufos were right behind with 16 points each.

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