Georgetown, Providence Back at Garden for NIT Semifinals
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NEW YORK — Two weeks ago, Georgetown and Providence left Madison Square Garden as losers in the Big East tournament. Tonight, they return as winners in the National Invitation Tournament.
Each team has won three consecutive NIT games to advance to the semifinals. Georgetown (19-12) will play Alabama Birmingham (20-13) in the opener, and Providence (20-11) will meet Minnesota (20-10) in the nightcap.
After losing seven of eight games in February, Georgetown has rebounded to win six of its last seven, including NIT victories over Arizona State, Texas El Paso and Miami (Ohio).
Although the Big East had a subpar season and sent only three teams to the NCAA tournament, Providence Coach Rick Barnes doesn’t view his NIT success as vindication.
“I don’t think our league has to defend itself,” Barnes said. “We had great parity, and parity isn’t a sign of weakness.”
The NIT championship game will be Wednesday night.
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