Stanford Men Defeat Oklahoma State In NIT Season Tip-Off
NEW YORK (CBS / AP) -- Josh Owens made his first nine shots from the field and finished with 21 points to lead Stanford to an 82-67 victory over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.
Owens, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, was 10 of 12 from the field as the Cardinal had their best game of the season from beyond the 3-point line. Stanford (5-0) will play the winner of the game between No. 5 Syracuse and Virginia Tech for the championship on Friday night.
Chasson Randle added 17 points and Aaron Bright had 15 for the Cardinal, who took control with an 18-0 run that spanned both halves.
Stanford scored the last six points of the first half to take a 46-35 lead and the Cardinal opened the second half on a 12-0 run. They hit four of their nine 3-pointers during the spurt.
Le'Bryan Nash had 16 points and Markel Brown added 11 for the Cowboys (3-1), who had their four-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden snapped.
This was Oklahoma State's first game since women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and his assistant, Miranda Serna, were killed along with two others in a plane crash last week. The players all had the number 4 on the left shoulder of their uniforms.
Stanford came into the game shooting 32.8 percent from 3-point range and the most 3s the Cardinal had in one game was seven against UC Davis. The Cardinal were 5 of 10 from long range in the first half, with Bright going 3 for 5. Randle matched his effort in the second half and Stanford was 9 of 19 from beyond the arc in the game.
It was another solid defensive effort by the Cardinal, who hadn't allowed an opponent to reach 60 points in their first four games.
Stanford's lead reached as much as 28 points, the last time at 74-46 on a basket by Randle with 7:46 to play.
Oklahoma State, which won this tournament in 1991, is 18-10 at Madison Square Garden.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
