Stanford Mauls Minnesota For NIT Title

Stanford snared the NIT Championship tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York, with a blowout 75-51 win over Minnesota from the Big-10.

The Cardinal backcourt combination of Chasson Randall and Aaron Bright off the bench was too much for the Gophers, as both scored 15 points. Stanford (26-11) led Minnesota (23-15) 31-25 at halftime, but blew the game open with a 9-0 run to start the second half, and never looked back.

Bright and Randle hit back to back 3 pointers midway in the second half, followed shortly by another Randle 3, that opened the lead to 25 points, and the margin topped out at 30 points on a pair of Bright free throws with 3 1/2 minutes left.

Stanford shot 50% from the field, and 46% on 3 pointers, while the Cardinal defense was throttling Minnesota. The Gophers were anything but Golden, and were held to 37% shooting, and just 3 of 13 on 3 pointers.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com