NIT ROUNDUP | Thursday's games
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South Carolina 65, Cincinnati 62
CINCINNATI -- Tre' Kelley's nine-point outburst early in the second half and go-ahead basket in the final minute led South Carolina over a Cincinnati team that had two starters declared ineligible just hours before its NIT quarterfinal game. Kelley finished with 21 points and Tarence Kinsey had 18 for South Carolina (21-15), which will play Louisville in Tuesday night's semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York. Old Dominion plays Michigan in the other semifinal. The Gamecocks are trying to become the first team to win consecutive NIT championships since St. John's in 1943 and 1944. Eric Hicks led the short-handed Bearcats (21-13) with 22 points. A Cincinnati spokesman, citing an NCAA ruling, declined to say why seniors James White and Jihad Muhammad were declared ineligible. White, a 6-foot-7 swing player from Washington, was the Bearcats' leading scorer at 16 points a game. Muhammad, a 5-11 guard from Plainfield, N.J., averaged 11 points and was Cincinnati's top 3-point shooting threat.
WOMEN
Western Kentucky 94, Villanova 81
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Crystal Kelly scored 28 points, Charlotte Marshall added 17 and Western Kentucky advanced to the semifinal round for the first time in school history. Dominique Duck scored 13 points, Tiffany Porter-Talbert and Tifany Zaragoza had 12 each and Ashley Butler added 10 for Western Kentucky (27-6), which will face the winner of today's Nebraska-Kansas State game.
Associated Press