Stanford Rolls Into NIT Semifinals

After three consecutive routs it won by an average of 29 points, No. 3 Stanford is headed to New York for some real competition.

Arthur Lee made five three-pointers and had 17 points as the Cardinal defeated Southwest Missouri State, 76-51, on Friday at Stanford to join St. John’s, North Carolina and Purdue in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.

Stanford (3-0) faces St. John’s Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. In the last three minutes of Friday’s game, Stanford fans chanted “New York City, New York City.”

“We did what we needed to do and we got a trip to New York, that was our goal,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “St. John’s is going to be a major test for us. Playing at the Garden will not be neutral for us. No way. We’re going to have to be that much sharper.”

Mark Madsen added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal, which made nine three-point baskets in the game. Danny Moore had 18 points and William Fontleroy had 14 for Southwest Missouri State (1-1).

“We are jacked to play in the Garden,” Lee said. “Of course, wherever we go we want to put on a good show. But I think this is going to be a statement, an opportunity for us to show what we can do.”

Southwest Missouri State was coming off an emotional victory over intrastate rival Missouri in the first round of the Preseason NIT, and Coach Steve Alford said that may have caused a bit of a letdown.

But Alford admitted that was not the reason his team lost to Stanford, which is 52-5 at home during the last four seasons.

“Don’t get me wrong--we could have played them 10 times and not beaten them,” Alford said. “This is my eighth year coaching [and] they’re definitely the best team I’ve ever faced.”

No. 7 Temple 60, No. 5 Michigan State 59--Pepe Sanchez made two free throws with .5 of a second left to cap the Owls’ wild rally from a 10-point deficit in the final 3 1/2 minutes at Philadelphia.

“Everything just went so fast. I looked at the clock and knew I had to go to the basket,” Sanchez said of the inbounds play that started with 1.3 seconds to go and the Owls down, 59-58. “All of a sudden I had the ball in my hands. That was the first time in my life I’ve had to make free throws to win a game.

“You don’t even know. That’s a lot of pressure.”

Temple (4-0), which shot 22% from the field in the first half, trailed, 54-44, with 3:36 to play. Sanchez, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, had four points in a 9-2 run that pulled the Owls to 56-52 with 1:17 remaining and then made five free throws down the stretch for the win.

Mateen Cleaves led Michigan State (2-1) with 17 points.

No. 6 Maryland 89, Hofstra 59--Terence Morris scored half of his career-high 22 points in a first-half run to lead the Terrapins (3-0) at College Park, Md.

Norman Richardson scored 20 points and Craig Claxton had 16 for the Flying Dutchmen (0-1).

No. 19 Arkansas 85, Virginia 83--Chris Jefferies scored 16 points and Derek Hood added 15 to pace a balanced Razorback attack in the opening round of the Top of the World Classic at Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Razorbacks (3-0) trailed much of the game, as Virginia (1-1) used a tight man-to-man defense that kept Arkansas from establishing a reliable inside game. But reserve Sergerio Gipson scored 13 points to help rally the Razorbacks.

OTHER GAMES

Ohio State 70, Penn State 62--Michael Redd scored 21 points to help the Buckeyes to a victory at Columbus, Ohio, in the earliest conference game in Big Ten history.

Alaska Fairbanks 88, Washington State 75--Rhent Mitchell scored 23 points and Brandon Bieber to lead the Division II Nanooks (3-0) to an upset victory in the opening game of the Top of the World Classic Thursday night at Fairbanks, Alaska.

WOMEN

Colorado State 71, No. 10 Rutgers 60--Becky Hammon keyed a second-half run with 14 of her 26 points as the Rams won the Women’s Preseason NIT tournament at Fort Collins, Colo.

Hammon made eight of 13 shots from the field, including five three-pointers for Colorado State (4-0), which took the tournament by winning consecutive games against ranked opponents for the first time in school history.

Shawnetta Stewart had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Rutgers (3-1).

No. 17 Kansas 58, Massachusetts 49--Lynn Pride had 15 points and five rebounds to lead the Jayhawks in the first game of the Hawaiian Regent Classic at Honolulu. Tonia Thomas led Massachusetts with 16 points.

No. 20 Florida 72, Indiana 67--Tonya Washington scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Gators in the third-place game of the Women’s Preseason NIT at Fort Collins, Colo.

No. 18 Arkansas 95, South Alabama 38--Wendi Willits and Sytia Messer scored 16 points to lead the Razorbacks in the first round of the Arkansas Invitational at Fayetteville.

No. 25 Wisconsin 103, No. 22 UC Santa Barbara 90--LaTonya Sims scored 34 points to lead the Badgers to an overtime victory at Madison, Wis.