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Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT
Season Tip-Off
The Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off showcased some of the best college basketball programs in the country including Oklahoma, Purdue, Arizona and St. John's. This annual preseason competition is often an indicator of just how good the teams involved will be during the regular season. The NIT Season Tip-Off began in 1985 and is one of the most highly regarded preseason college basketball tournaments in the country. The tournament is comprised of 16 teams and allows for only one team from a conference to participate in a given year.
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| Date: |
Semifinals: November 26, 2008 - 7:00pm & 9:00pm
Consolation: November 28, 2008 - 1:30pm
Championship: November 28, 2008 - 3:30pm |
| Place: |
Madison Square Garden |
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Game Recaps
Championship Game
Oklahoma 87 - Purdue 82 (OT)
Blake Griffin scored 18 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma Sooners in a thrilling 87-82 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers in the championship game of the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off. Willie Warren added a career-high 22 points and Taylor Griffin had 19 for the Sooners. E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points to lead Purdue, which jumped ahead 80-76 in overtime before Warren scored in the lane and Tony Crocker made a free throw. Blake Griffin got the ball inside with 1:05 left and was hacked across the arm, then made both free throws for an 81-80 lead. Cade Davis made a pair of foul shots with 16.4 seconds left to push the lead to three, but Purdue never got a chance to tie it up. Moore was stripped before he could take a shot, and the Sooners sealed it from the free-throw line.
Consolation Game
Boston College 83 - UAB 77
Tyrese Rice scored all 24 of his points in the second half, and Boston College rallied to beat UAB by a score of 83-77 in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Rakim Sanders added 16 points, Joe Trapani had 12 and Reggie Jackson 11 for the Eagles, who trailed 70-66 with about 6 minutes left before Rice hit a 3-pointer that ignited an 11-2 run. Robert Vaden cut the lead to 77-74 with his basket with 2:10 left, but Sanders scored four quick points to seal it. Lawrence Kinnard scored a career-high 29 points for UAB, while Vaden added 20 points and Howard Crawford had 10.
Semifinals
Purdue 71 - Boston College 64
Purdue posted a 71-64 win over Boston College in the first semifinal of the evening. The balanced boilermaker attack, led by E'Twaun Moore who scored 19 points, posted four double digit scorers. Purdue led by 19 points with approximately 6 minutes left in regulation. Boston College slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting it to eight with only 1:45 remaining. The Boilermakers then ratcheted up the defense, forcing a turnover and offensive foul on consecutive Boston College possessions, as well as hitting free throws down the stretch to hold on to the victory. Senior guard Tyrese Rice led all Boston College scorers, contributing 17 points in the losing effort.
Oklahoma 77 - UAB 67
Oklahoma, on the shoulders of Blake Griffin’s titanic 32 point and 15 rebound effort, held on to a 77-67 victory over a UAB squad. UAB led 62-60 with only five minutes left in regulation, but Oklahoma turned it on and closed out the game with a 17-5 run and posting a 10 point victory. Despite turning the ball over 17 times in the game, the Sooners out-rebounded UAB 36-25. UAB senior guard Paul Delaney III scored a team high 23 points and senior forward Robert Vaden scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss.
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| 2008 Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Teams |
| Boston College |
Loyola (Md.) |
St. John's |
Cornell |
| Purdue |
Eastern Michigan |
Georgia |
Loyola Chicago |
| Oklahoma |
Mississippi Valley State |
Davidson |
James Madison |
| Arizona |
Florida Atlantic |
UAB |
Santa Clara |
| Some Past NIT Season Tip-Off MVP's That Moved On To The NBA |
| Allen Iverson, Georgetown (1995) |
Paul Pierce, Kansas (1997) |
| Gilbert Arenas, Arizona (1999) |
Carlos Boozer, Duke (2000) |
| Rashad McCants, North Carolina (2002) |
Shelden Williams, Duke (2005) |
For results from last year's NIT Season Tip-Off, please visit our
2007 NIT Season Tip-Off page.
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Last Updated On:
Monday, December 1, 2008 | |
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| 810 7th Avenue, 3rd Fl. New York, NY 10019 / Toll Free: 877.NYC.SPORTS |
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