The NIT Season Tip-Off Committee got it what wanted in the finals at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
Two top programs in the UConn Huskies and Duke Blue Devils. Two Hall of Fame coaches with at least 800 wins in Jim Calhoun and Mike Krzyzewski. And for about eight minutes, they got what appeared to be another instant classic at the world’s most famous arena.
But instead, the Dukies clamped down on defense and took advantage of a UConn cold streak in the first half to propel themselves to 68-59 win to take the NIT Season Tip-Off Championship.
It’s the fourth time the No. 7 Blue Devils (6-0) have won the tournament. The No. 13 Huskies (4-1) had taken the last four games, including wins in the 1999 NCAA Championship Game and 2004 NCAA Tournament Semifinals.
The reason UConn lost.
It’s simple. They shot the ball like crap, they got outrebounded, they couldn’t keep control of the ball and they missed almost half of their free throws.
UConn went 15-of-26 (53.6%) from the free throw line and had they made at least 10 of the misses, they could have won again. Instead, they’ll have to deal with the ire of Calhoun.
It wasn’t much prettier for Duke as they shot 29.6% (21-of-74) in the game from the floor and made just eight field goals in the second half. The difference? They made six 3-pointers while UConn put up a doughnut.
The other difference. They missed 53 shots but grabbed 56 rebounds including a 25-14 advantage on the offensive glass.
The game took a turn for the worse for UConn when Duke’s Kyle Singler went to the bench with three fouls. UConn was clinging to a 22-21 lead and had prime opportunity to really put the game in their favor.
Instead, the Blue Devils went on an 16-6 run to close out the half as the Huskies got sloppy with the ball and rushed their shots.
The Blue Devils put the game away early in the second half with a 12-0 run to take a 53-34 lead that UConn chipped away at but never got closer than eight points at 62-54. They got that close on a 12-0 run but it wasn’t enough.
Jerome Dyson led the Huskies with 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting. In unlike Dyson form, he was only 3-of-9 from the free throw line. Gavin Edwards, coming off the bench for the second straight game, added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks while Stanley Robinson chipped in with 10 points. Freshman Alex Oriakhi had 8 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Tournament MVP John Scheyer led the Dukies with 19 points and had five assists. Nolan Smith added 16 points while Andre Dawkins and Lance Thomas had 11 points with Thomas adding 10 rebounds. Duke’s leading scorer, Singler, was held to six points.
The Huskies return to action on Wednesday night when they will host the Boston University Terriers at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on My-TV9.
