Bradley rallies past Virginia in CBI semis
Jeremy Crouch had 27 points, including a 3-pointer that sparked a run that blew open a close game, as Bradley beat Virginia 96-85 in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
Crouch's 3-pointer with 11:42 to play sparked a 19-5 run that ended with Bradley (20-15) up 80-63 with just under five minutes remaining. Crouch hit 3 of his 5 from beyond the arc during that run, and he finished 9-for-18 overall and� 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Virginia (17-16) led by as many as 14 in the first half before a 15-0 run sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Daniel Ruffin put Bradley up 31-30 with 5:44 remaining in the half. After some back-and-forth, Mamadi Diane's tip-in at the buzzer tied it at 42-42.
Theron Wilson had 17 for Bradley, and Ruffin, Matt Salley and Andrew Warren each added 11. Salley also had 10 rebounds.
Jeff Jones had a career-high 26 points for Virginia, Sean Singletary had 17, Adrian Joseph 15 and Diane added 10. It was the final game for Singletary, Joseph and Ryan Pettinella, and when Singletary came out of the game with 48 seconds left he received a long standing ovation.
Bradley will face Tulsa, which defeated Houston 73-69 in Wednesday's other semifinal, in the best-of-three championship series beginning Monday.
Men's NIT
Ohio St. 74, Dayton 63: Ohio State's season will end where it started.
Kosta Koufos scored 21 points and Jamar Butler added 12 in the Buckeyes' victory over visiting Dayton in an NIT quarterfinal.
The Buckeyes (22-13) will face Mississippi in the semifinals at New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. In the other semifinal, Massachusetts will play Florida.
Ohio State won three games in the NIT Season Tip-Off before losing to Texas A&M 70-47 in the championship game at the Garden on Nov. 23.
The game was played before a loud, capacity crowd of 19,049 at Value City Arena, with Dayton fans making up at least a quarter of those in attendance.
Brian Roberts had 20 points for the Flyers (23-11).
Mississippi 81, Virginia Tech 72: Chris Warren scored five of his 22 points during a 9-0 second-half run and Mississippi beat host Virginia Tech in the NIT quarterfinals to earn a trip to Madison Square Garden.
Ole Miss (24-10) led 51-49 with 10-49 to play before Warren's layup sparked the burst. He later added a 3-pointer, Eniel Polynice hit a jumper and Kenny Williams made a layup to cap the spurt, which gave the Rebels a 60-49 led with 8:22 to play.
Deron Washington had 23 points for Virginia Tech (21-14).
Women's NIT
Marquette 72,k Illinois 64: Illinois is out of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Krystal Ellis scored 25 points Wednesday night to lead host Marquette over Illinois, which led 36-31 at halftime. But the Golden Eagles outscored the Illini 41-28 after intermission to pull away.
Marquette (18-14) will face Kentucky (17-15) in the WNIT quarterfinals.
Angel Robinson added 16 points and Jocelyn Mellen had 10 for Marquette.
Lori Bjork scored 19 points for Illinois (20-15), while Jenna Smith and Rebecca Harris added 14 points each.