NEW YORK — With his Stanford teammates struggling and the lead slipping away, Anthony Brown shot the ball with no hesitation.
Brown scored 13 of his season-high 18 points in the second half to lead the Cardinal to a 74-64 victory over Massachusetts in an NIT semifinal Tuesday night.
“He had great looks and he [had] confidence and he made them,” Stanford Coach Johnny Dawkins said. “He really stepped up tonight and did it for us.”
Brown shot 7 of 12, while the rest of the team was a combined 17 of 53.
The Minutemen took their first lead since early in the game with just over eight minutes left, but Brown hit a three-pointer to push the Cardinal back on top, then later scored seven points duringan 11-3 run that put Stanford in control.
“There was a change in momentum, and I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team out,” the sophomore said.
Josh Owens had 15 points and matched a career high with 12 rebounds for the Cardinal, who out rebounded UMass 54-45.
“Josh was the man tonight,” Dawkins said. “I think he controlled the paint.”
Third-seeded Stanford (25-11) will meet Minnesota in the championship game Thursdaynight at Madison Square Garden.
Brooklyn native Chaz Williams led fifth-seeded UMass (25-12) with 19 points. But he shot just 7 of 18 and had four turnovers with three assists.
“I came out and made some unforced errors early that I don’t usually make,” he said.
MINNESOTA 68, WASHINGTON 67, OT
NEW YORK - Freshman guard Andre Hollins scored 20 points, including five in overtime, and short-handed Minnesota beat Washington.
With the shot clock winding down and the Golden Gophers clinging to a one-point lead in the final minute, Hollins banked in an off-balance shot to put sixth-seeded Minnesota (23-14) up 68-65.
The top-seeded Huskies (24-11), who trailed by 15 late in the first half, sent the game to overtime when C.J. Wilcox stole the ball and drove for the tying layup with 16.3 seconds left.
Wilcox had a good look at a potential tying three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime, but the ball bounced off the rim. Darnell Gant put back the miss to pull Washington within a point, but after Julian Welch missed two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining, Abdul Gaddy’s desperation shot from beyond midcourt fell well short.
Sports, Pages 25 on 03/28/2012