Blab and Alford Lead Indiana to 74-67 Win Over Tennessee in NIT

Uwe Blab and Steve Alford, the Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside of the Indiana attack, combined for 47 points and contributed key plays in the last two minutes to lead the Hoosiers to a 74-67 victory over Tennessee in the semifinals of the 48th National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night.

Indiana earned a berth in Friday night’s championship game at Madison Square Garden against the winner of Wednesday night’s second semifinal game between UCLA and Louisville.

The 7-2 Blab, who finished with 24 points, scored 14 in the first half as Indiana took a 40-30 lead. But the Hoosiers had to hold on as Tennessee rallied behind Tony White.

White scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half to bring the Southeastern Conference team back. The Volunteers took the lead at 57-56 with 9:54 remaining with a 9-0 streak keyed by their sharp-shooting guard.

There were four lead changes and two ties before the Hoosiers went ahead for good at 66-64 on a basket by reserve Dan Dakich with 4:49 left.

Then Alford took charge at the foul line, scoring five of Indiana’s last six points. He had 23 points, while Blab grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Vols, 21-15, also got 15 points from Anthony Richardson.