The Stanford Cardinal travelled across the country for a chance to play in the 2012 NIT Championship game, but would have to get past the UMass Minutemen first on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. And behind another solid team performance for Johnny Dawkins' Card, Stanford took care of business by the score of 74-64.
Anthony Brown led Stanford (25-11, 10-8 Pac-12) with 18 points on the night, one of four Cardinal players in double-figures this evening, along with Josh Owens' 15 and 11 boards, Aaron Bright's 13 including 6-6 form the charity stripe, and Chasson Randle's 12 and seven rebounds. They commited a fairly rare 17 turnovers, but out rebounded the Minutemen by 12 (46-34).
Chaz Williams' 19 would prove not enough for UMass (25-12, 9-7 A-10), while Freddie Riley added 10 off the bench. Their fate was sealed at the free throw line this evening, shooting a team 59 percent (13-22), though shot only 33 percent from the field as a team as well.
Now Stanford will face the winner of the Washington Huskies and Minnesota Golden Gophers semifinal, possibly setting up an all Pac-12 Championship in this year's NIT.
Full box score can be found here.
For more on the Cardinal, please head over to Rule of Tree.