Santa Barbara Ousted

Tommy Johnson made a three-point basket with 1:14 left to put San Diego State ahead for good in a 67-62 overtime victory over visiting UC Santa Barbara Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT.

The Aztecs (16-13) won for the first time in six trips to Division I postseason play.

Johnson made his three-pointer out of the right corner to give the Aztecs a 63-60 lead after they had trailed by six points.

Mark Hull put UC Santa Barbara (18-14) ahead by scoring the first six points in overtime on a three-point play and a three-pointer to give the Gauchos a 60-54 lead with 3:03 left.

Mike Mackell then scored six straight points in 45 seconds to tie the score.

San Diego State’s Tony Bland forced overtime when he sank a running 10-footer with 1.9 seconds left to tie the game at 54-54. Bland then stole Hull’s inbound pass and missed from 23 feet out as his shot hit off the rim at the buzzer.

Bland had 17 points to lead San Diego State. Hull finished with 28 points, making five of nine three-pointers for the Gauchos, the Big West regular season champions, who are 0-4 in NIT games.

San Diego State will next play at Texas Tech on Friday night.

OTHER NIT GAMES

Travis Watson had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Virginia (16-15) ended a 13-game postseason losing streak dating to 1995, beating Brown (17-12), 89-73 at Charlottesville, Va.... Chris Bosh scored 18 points and B.J. Elder added 12 as Georgia Tech (15-14) beat Ohio State (17-15), 72-58, at Atlanta.... Rob Sanders had 16 points and Providence (17-13) held Richmond (15-14) to 29% shooting as the Friars beat the Spiders, 67-49, at Richmond, Va.... Willie Shaw scored 14 points as St. John’s (17-13) beat Boston University (20-11), 62-57, at New York.... Dawan Robinson made a three-pointer with 4.1 seconds left to lead Rhode Island (20-10) to a come-from-behind 61-60 victory over Seton Hall (17-13) at Kingston, R.I. Rhode Island overcame an eight-point deficit in the final 3:46.... Thomas Mobley scored 20 points, including 12 in the second half, to lead the College of Charleston (25-7) past Kent State (21-10), 71-66, at Kent, Ohio.... Jake Sullivan scored 23 points to lead a 16-3 second-half run that carried Iowa State (17-13) to a 76-65 victory over Wichita State (18-12) at Ames, Iowa.... Mike Williams scored 10 of Western Michigan’s last 17 points as the Broncos (20-10) defeated Illinois-Chicago (21-9), 63-62, at Kalamazoo, Mich.... Rick Rickert and Maurice Holman each scored 15 points to lead Minnesota (17-12) to a 62-52 victory against Saint Louis (16-14) at St. Louis.... Andre Emmett scored 18 points to lead Texas Tech (19-12) to a 66-54 victory over Nevada (18-14) at Lubbock, Texas.... Eric Bush scored three baskets in the final three minutes to lead Alabama-Birmingham (20-12) to an 82-80 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette (20-10) at Birmingham, Ala. Gabe Kennedy led UAB with 19 points.

WOMEN

Vanguard (26-9) held Mobile (Ala.) (22-13) to 31% shooting in a 62-48 victory in first-round NAIA Division I tournament play in Jackson, Tenn.