March 30, 2012, Stanford-Minnesota postseason NIT Championship game story for San Francisco Chronicle
Stanford men rout Minnesota 75-51 to win NIT title
Friday, March 30, 2012
NEW YORK -- What goes around, comes around.
A Stanford season that featured an early trip to Madison Square Garden, where it lost to Syracuse in the NIT Tip-Off final game, ended back in the Garden with a 75-51 win over Minnesota in the NIT championship Thursday night.
It was Stanford's second postseason NIT Championship, and its first since 1991.
The Cardinal won 10 of their final 13 games to finish the season with a record of 26-11.
"This season was a little bit of a roller coaster ride for us," said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. "We started off so strong, battled some adversity in the middle and ended as strong as we ever could have imagined."
"When we look back ... I just think we have grown together," Dawkins added. "We have grown up."
Sophomore guard Aaron Bright was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He finished the two games in New York with 28 points (15 Thursday). Freshman guard Chasson Randle added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, Thursday night. Sophomore Anthony Brown contributed 11 points.
"I've been telling everyone it's great for next year," Bright said of the underclassmen taking on a leadership role. "We know what it takes to win the tournament now. I think we are going to use this experience for next year and (make) a run at March Madness."
Stanford led 31-25 at the break, thanks to a 14-4 run spanning the final 8:57 of the first half, and they took control in the second half as their defense forced the up-tempo Golden Gophers (23-15) into playing a halfcourt game for which they appeared unsuited. Minnesota took ill-advised shots and was careless with the basketball. Stanford forced 13 of the Golden Gophers' 22 turnovers in the second half and held Minnesota to 37.3 percent shooting for the game.
"I think defensively we are looking good," Bright said.
The missed shots and turnovers allowed the Cardinal to outscore Minnesota 44-26 in the second half.
Twenty-eight of the Cardinal's 75 points came off turnovers. Ten points came via the fastbreak, highlighted by a dunk by senior center Josh Owens (eight points, all tournament team) that gave the Cardinal a 68-40 lead.
Bright set up Owens for the two-handed dunk with a behind-the-back pass to complete a sequence that began with Brown grabbing a rebound of Minnesota junior guard Julian Welch's missed jumper.
"Those guys, they just had it going out there tonight. We definitely had some lapses in defense," lamented Minnesota forward Rodney Williams, who had 12 points to lead the Gophers. "That's definitely frustrating, but there's nothing that you can do but keep fighting."
With the win, Stanford improved to 11-4 at the Garden.
The win was the Cardinal's first in five meetings against Minnesota.
Denis Gorman is a freelance writer.
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This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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posted by Denis P. Gorman at 1:25 PM
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