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GAME NOTES: New York's famed Madison Square Garden is the site of tonight's NIT Championship Game between the third-seeded Dayton Flyers and the fourth- seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.

North Carolina, the defending national champion, failed to qualify for this year's NCAA Tournament after a wildly inconsistent regular season. Fortunately, the team was rewarded with an NIT bid and has made the most of its opportunity. In Tuesday's semifinal game against second-seeded Rhode Island, the Heels mounted a late comeback to force overtime and squeak out a 68-67 victory. UNC is making its sixth appearance in this tournament. The Heels won the NIT title in 1971 and own a 13-4 all-time record in the event. Roy Williams' team has beaten the likes of NCAA Tournament Final Four participant Michigan State and national power Ohio State this season, so there is obviously talent on the Tar Heel roster.

Dayton has a storied NIT history, as it has made 21 previous appearances and owns a stellar 39-20 record in the tournament. The Flyers have won this event twice and have five second-place finishes to their credit, but all of that success occurred over four decades ago. Dayton was the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference this year, but the team failed to live up to the billing and was shunned as an at-large hopeful by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Still, the squad has improved its overall record to 24-12 and is coming off a 68-63 decision over Ole Miss in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday night.

The Flyers and Tar Heels have split their only two previous meetings, and UNC won the most recent matchup by 30 points back in 2006.

North Carolina was fortunate to knock off Rhode Island on Tuesday, especially when you consider that the Tar Heels connected on only 34.9 percent of their field goal attempts. They shot 2-of-17 from three-point range and turned the ball over 17 times. UNC was also outscored 12-8 from the foul line, but the club did earn a 60-45 rebounding advantage and limited the Rams to 36.8 percent shooting. Deon Thompson scored 16 points and ripped down 13 rebounds for the Heels, who got 14 points from Will Graves. Tyler Zeller added 12 points off the bench for North Carolina, which is scoring 74.7 ppg while allowing 71.7 ppg to opponents this season. Thompson is netting 13.7 ppg as the only active double-digit scorer for the Tar Heels, who are outrebounding foes by 5.7 rpg.

As poorly as North Carolina shot the ball on Tuesday, Dayton was even more inefficient. The Flyers connected on a mere 33.3 percent of their field goal attempts, but they managed to hold Ole Miss to 34.4 percent shooting while outscoring the Rebels 24-15 from the foul line. Chris Johnson netted 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with four steals, and Marcus Johnson added 12 points before fouling out. Chris Wright showed his all-around ability by posting nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Wright is averaging 13.7 ppg through 36 outings, and he is pulling down 7.2 rpg as well. Chris Johnson checks in with 11.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg for the Flyers, who are generating 70.0 ppg while yielding 62.1 ppg.

Expect Dayton to get the job done tonight, spoiling what has been a confidence-building run by North Carolina. Wright and the two Johnsons will make the necessary plays to give the Flyers the NIT title.