Madison Square Garden was half-full, and most basketball fans were half-interested.
That didn't matter to Georgetown and Minnesota on Wednesday night as the two teams played a championship-caliber game that went down to the buzzer in the NIT final. The Gophers came away with a 62-61 victory.The win brought a sense of redemption to the Golden Gophers (22-10), a team that felt snubbed when it was passed over for an NCAA berth three last month.
"We used this tourney to send a message to the people that we are a good team, that we were overlooked by the NCAAs and we felt that the NIT was a perfect place to showcase our abilities," said tournament most valuable player Voshon Lenard.
That doesn't mean Minnesota was playing solely to impress the folks in the NCAAs. Quite the contrary, the Gophers went through the NIT treating it with respect and made the best of the situation they found themselves in.
By Wednesday night, coach Clem Haskins said his team was happy with the way things worked out.
"This more than makes up for it. To me it's a mission accomplished. It's been a great experience for us and we're going to use it as a springboard for next year."
Arriel McDonald led the Gophers with 20 points, 14 in the second half. Lenard added 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Harrington led Georgetown (20-13) with 17 points, and Joey Brown had 14.
Freshman forward Duane Spencer was ejected with 15:15 left for punching Minnesota center Chad Kolander in the neck. The incident spurred a 19-6 run that ended with Minnesota ahead 62-51 with 4:27 left on McDonald's eight-foot jumper. Those, however, would be the Gophers' last points.
Georgetown stepped up its defensive intensity and forced Minnesota into several turnovers and poor shots. Harrington's free throw with 1:41 left cut the score to 62-61, and when Randy Carter missed two free throws for Minnesota with 24.3 seconds left, Georgetown rebounded and set up for a last shot.