WICHITA, Kan. - Tim Pickett scored 25 to lead Florida State to a pair of comebacks in a 91-84 double-overtime victory over Wichita State in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
Pickett hit three second-half 3-pointers to help the Seminoles (19-13) rally from a 14-point deficit.
Florida State, which snapped a five-game losing streak, also had to come back from six points down in the first overtime.
In the second overtime, Nate Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 4:03 left to give the Seminoles the lead for good. Florida State then made six straight free throws, and Wichita State was 1-of-5 from the field.
Von Wafer came off the bench to score 14 for the Seminoles. Jamar Howard and Fridge Holman each scored 16 for the Shockers.
Irish get aggressive
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey met with Chris Quinn before the game against Purdue and showed him a highlight film of how he played when he started games aggressively.
"I told him, "I need you to be aggressive right from the tip. You need to go after it right away,' " Brey said.
Quinn got the message.
He scored the first 11 points for Notre Dame, making shooting 5-for-7 while his teammates went 0-for-7. He finished with a game-high 21 points as the Irish beat the Boilermakers 71-59 to advance to the second round of the NIT.
"Luckily I was able to knock down some shots to keep our team in it in the beginning," Quinn said. "I think they were really concentrating on Chris Thomas. I think that was a lot of their game plan. And since they were concentrating on him, I was able to get some shots."
Purdue coach Gene Keady said his team's fifth straight loss capped a frustrating season.
"When you start losing one- and two-point games it becomes a mental thing," he said. "You lose confidence in yourself and you can't let that happen. There are too many "what ifs,' and those things start to be a negative reaction."
Keady was asked whether it may have been his last game after 24 years at Purdue, but said he wasn't going to talk about that.
The Boilermakers (17-14) trailed 39-30 at halftime but made 50 percent of their shots to start the second half to go on a 22-12 run, taking a 52-51 lead. Brett Buscher scored six of his 12 points during the run, and David Teague scored seven of his 10.
Notre Dame (18-12), which shot 50 percent in the first half, missed its first 10 shots after halftime. But the Irish made 4 of 5 down the stretch and ended with a 20-7 run. Quinn started the spurt with a basket inside, and center Tom Timmermans and Thomas made key 3-pointers.
Brey said Timmermans' 3-pointer, which gave the Irish a 58-54 lead, was key.
"He wasn't in a great rhythm. He fumbled a couple, he got in foul trouble. To have the resiliency to flush all that and knock down a big one. That was huge," Brey said.
The Fighting Irish, winners of eight of their past 11, play Saint Louis in the second round. Purdue finished the season 4-8 on the road.
The Irish went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 98 seconds.
It was the first game between the schools, which are separated by just 100 miles, in 38 years.
GEORGE MASON 58, TENNESSEE 55: The host Patriots won their first postseason game in 18 years. The victory gave George Mason a school record for wins in a season, and the school won its first tournament game since a 65-63 victory over Lamar in the 1986 NIT. George Mason had since gone 0-3 in the NCAA tournament and 0-2 in the NIT.
WEST VIRGINIA 65, KENT ST. 54: Tyrone Sally scored 17 and braved a bloody nose from a second-half collision to lead the Mountaineers to their first postseason win since they reached the regional semifinals of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The host Golden Flashes lost six of their final eight games.
VA. 79, GEORGE WASHINGTON 66: Todd Billet made five of the Cavaliers' 13 3-pointers in possibly his final home game in the first round of the NIT. Virginia, playing in the NIT for the third straight season and fourth time in six seasons under coach Pete Gillen, plays Villanova on Saturday.
VILLANOVA 85, DREXEL 70: Randy Foye and Allan Ray each scored 20 points, and Curtis Sumpter had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the host Wildcats in the opening round.
NIAGARA 87, TROY STATE 83: Tremmell Darden had 26 points and Juan Mendez added 20 points and 16 rebounds for the host Purple Eagles. Niagara, which trailed by 17 in the first half, plays at Nebraska on Friday.
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE 91, RICE 63: Dylan Page scored 22, Ed McCants added 21 and Joah Tucker had 14 as the host Panthers got their first win ever in a postseason tournament.
AUSTIN PEAY 65, BELMONT 59: The Governors had an 11-0 run over a two-minute stretch late in the second half and weathered a rally by the Bruins in the final minute in the opening round. The Governors, regular-season champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, scored their final 14 during a span of 1:40 to extend their home winning streak to 29.
RHODE ISLAND 80, BOSTON U. 52: The host Rams opened a double-digit lead in the first six minutes and were never threatened in the opening round.
BOISE ST. 84, UNLV 69: Bryan Defares had 12 points and a school-record 13 assists, and Aaron Haynes added 20 points to lead the Broncos. Jason Ellis scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Jermaine Blackburn added 15 points as Boise State advanced to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
IOWA ST. 82, GEORGIA 74: Jackson Vroman scored 23, Curtis Stinson had 21 and the Cyclones shot a school-record 74.4 percent. The Cyclones were 17-for-21 from the field in the second half but could not pull away until scoring 11 straight for a 68-56 lead with 3:37 left.
OKLAHOMA 70, LSU 61: Freshmen Brandon Foust and Drew Lavender combined for 34 points, and Johnnie Gilbert added 11 for the Sooners. Absent from the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, Oklahoma clinched a seventh consecutive 20-win season - quite an accomplishment considering its undersized lineup and reliance on four freshmen in the final part of the season.
HAWAII 85, NO. 25 UTAH ST. 74: Michael Kuebler scored 28 to leadthe Warriors over the Aggies. Kuebler was one point shy of his career-high 29, and the visiting Warriors scored their first road win over a ranked opponent. Hawaii shot 62 percent (34-for-55) and had four players score in double figures. Utah State was the only ranked team not to make the NCAA Tournament.
