Knight Supported by Chaney

Temple Coach John Chaney came to the defense of Indiana’s Bob Knight Thursday, referring to himself as “the black Knight.”

Chaney said he and Knight share the same philosophy in that they won’t put up with “bad behavior.”

“I think a coach who will not buy bad behavior is a damn good coach, and he’s rare,” Chaney said. “Bob Knight is rare. I am rare. I am another Bob Knight.”

Chaney’s comments came before practice at Buffalo’s Marine Midland Arena, where Temple plays Lafayette and Indiana takes on Pepperdine in the East Regional today.

Knight is accused of choking former player Neil Reed. He said he may have grabbed Reed around the neck for motivational reasons.

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Jose Winston missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, allowing Southern Illinois (20-12) to escape with a 94-92 victory over Colorado (18-14) in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game at Boulder, Colo. Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton threw the ball at one of the officials as he left the court and had to be restrained by three people as he stormed after the referees.

In other NIT games: Trevor Huffman had 18 points for Kent (22-7) in a 73-62 home-court victory over Rutgers (15-16); Southwest Missouri State (23-10) avenged an early-season loss to Southern Methodist (21-9) with a 77-64 victory at Springfield, Mo.; and Marcus Faison had 22 points to lead Siena (24-8) to a 66-65 victory over Massachusetts (17-16) at Albany, N.Y. . . . Erica Mashia and Tiffany Elmore each had 18 points, and USC (16-13) overcame a 13-point deficit in a 71-64 victory at Santa Clara (21-9) in the first round of the women’s NIT. USC’s next game is against Colorado State Saturday at Ft. Collins. . . . Joey Penberthy had 24 points to lead The Master’s (28-5) to an 81-61 win over Houston Baptist (28-6) in the second round of the NAIA Division I tournament at Tulsa, Okla. In another NAIA game, Chris Boyd’s 27 points led Biola (27-7) to a 71-60 win over Lambuth (28-8).