NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 18 points and eighth-ranked Villanova survived a poor shooting performance Thursday in a 59-45 victory over Stanford in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tipoff.
Brunson had the most productive game of his freshman season while the Wildcats (5-0) struggled from the floor at the Barclays Center. They shot 30.6 percent but did enough to advance to the championship game today against Georgia Tech, which beat Arkansas 83-73 earlier Thursday.
Josh Hart added 10 points for Villanova but shot 4 of 12 and missed all 5 of his three-point attempts. Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono were a combined 6 of 24.
Leading scorer Marcus Allen scored 12 points but was 3 for 12 for Stanford (2-3). Dorian Pickens added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cardinal shot 26 percent and committed 23 turnovers.
The Wildcats trailed for the first 5:23 before scoring their first points. Villanova stayed close because Stanford missed its first 15 shots and did not get a field goal until the 9:57 mark of the first half.
Villanova was unable to put it away until late in the second half. The Wildcats scored six consecutive points after Stanford’s Reid Travis was called for a technical foul, increasing the lead to 52-39 with 4:52 remaining.