Ohio State ousts Ole Miss, to face UMass for NIT title

Jamar Butler and Evan Turner led the Buckeyes ith 17 points apiece.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Ohio State will get another chance to wrap up its season with a title, though not quite the one the Buckeyes had in mind when fall practice started.

Hey, at least they don’t have to mess with Florida this time.

Jamar Butler and Evan Turner scored 17 each, and the Buckeyes used a buckling halfcourt trap and an early 14-0 run to beat Mississippi 81-69 Tuesday night in the NIT semifinals.

Ohio State (23-13) will play Massachusetts in the championship Thursday night.

Ohio State will get a Massachusetts team that has shown incredible resiliency in rallying from second-half deficits of 12 against Akron, 22 against Syracuse and nine against the Florida just to reach the NIT championship.

Ole Miss (24-11) tried to summon some of that magic in the second half, slapping on its own trap and slowly whittling down a 27-point deficit.

The lead was 56-38 when freshman Chris Warren hit a 3-pointer and Trevor Gaskins followed with a pair of free throws — the first points by a nonstarter for Ole Miss. Seconds later, Kenny Williams converted a turnover by Butler to make it 56-45 with 12 minutes left.

The Rebels put one last run together, with Warren hitting three 3s on consecutive possessions to get within 75-68 with 1:32 remaining. But Butler, the All-Big Ten guard, scored on a driving layup to help put the game away.

Massachusetts 78, Florida 66

NEW YORK — Dante Milligan made a touching, triumphant return to the arena he practically grew up in, leading Massachusetts into the NIT championship game.

The undersized post player scored 17 points and made several blocks late against Florida, helping the Minutemen defeat the two-time defending NCAA champions.

Gary Forbes scored 19 points, Chris Lowe and Ricky Harris added 16 each, and the starters scored all but two points for the Minutemen.

UMass (25-10) took its first lead since early in the game when Etienne Brower hit a 3-pointer with 9:49 left. Milligan scored a couple minutes later, then stuffed Walter Hodge at the other end, leading to another 3 from Brower and a 59-51 lead with 7:25 to go.

The Gators (24-12) never could get closer than six the rest of the way, ending a disappointing season with a lackluster finish miles away and far removed from the consecutive titles they won on college basketball’s biggest stage.

Marreese Speights had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for Florida, the first defending champ to miss the NCAA tournament since 1989.

Star freshman Nick Calathes added 12 points on just 5-of-19 shooting, and Dan Werner had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Milligan and his brother, Alonzo, were involved with Boys’ Club of New York growing up, and their mentor worked in public relations at Madison Square Garden. Together they spent dozens of nights hanging out in the locker rooms and watching the New York Knicks.

Three years ago, Milligan’s brother died in a random shooting in his old East Harlem neighborhood, and the Garden and Knicks established a scholarship fund in Alonzo’s honor.

The older brother carries a tattoo on his arm that reads, “Enjoy life today. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come.”

He’s sure living up to it in the NIT.

He scored a career-high 24 points in the tournament opener against Stephen F. Austin and had 13 to help the Minutemen rally from 22 down with 14:37 left to beat Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

The game was a matchup of coaches who both learned under Rick Pitino at Kentucky, Billy Donovan as an assistant and Travis Ford as the guard who led the Wildcats to the Final Four.

Like Donovan a year ago, when he flirted with a coaching vacancy in the NBA, Ford now has to face questions about his future. His name has already popped up for the opening at LSU, perhaps an avenue for returning to his roots in the Southeastern Conference.

His team was fortunate to be within 36-27 at the break, after a dreadful shooting performance uncharacteristic of the nation’s eighth-highest scoring team. The Minutemen were just 1-of-13 from beyond the arc, and after Milligan’s putback with 12:08 left, went more than 12 minutes without a field goal.

Florida wasn’t much better, though, twice turning the ball over on inbound plays — gaffs more appropriate for November than the first day of April.

Forbes nearly brought the shooting slump to a merciful end with about 3 minutes to go, the ball rolling tantalizingly around the rim before popping out. A minute later he finally scored on a layup, and Massachusetts looked up to see it only trailed 30-25.