Cagers dig way into NIT finals

NEW YORK -- It's not the big ball, but it's a Cinderella story nonetheless.

The Big Ten will own the National Invitation Tournament championship no matter what happens as the Penn State men's basketball team (19-12) faces Minnesota (18-15) at 7:30 tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The consolation game between Fresno State and Georgia will tip off at 5 p.m.

Both Penn State and Minnesota were projected at the beginning of the season to finish low in the Big Ten without any hope of postseason success. The Nittany Lions lost senior point guard Dan Earl to injury and Minnesota graduated three seniors from last year's NCAA Final Four team.

"This year, there's several teams in postseason play and now we have two Big Ten teams in the finals," said Golden Gopher coach Clem Haskins, "so I would say that someone may wake up one of these days and give the Big Ten a lot of credit."

"The Big Ten is very competitive," Lion coach Jerry Dunn said. "You don't have to coach in it to understand. There's little room for error."

This is true for the Lions; they will be without Jarrett Stephens. The 6-foot-7 power forward suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury Tuesday night against Georgia after Bulldog forward Larry Brown clobbered Stephens when he was going for a layup.

Stephens, who came off the bench this season, contributed 13.9 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. He was also the Lions' most dangerous power forward who could muscle around under the boards.

Penn State forward Titus Ivory said the Lions have dedicated the championship game to their fallen teammate.

"The look on his face was very painful," Ivory said, "and knowing how he wanted to play, we're dedicating the last game to him."

Dunn said he appreciates the team's enthusiasm for Stephens but is more worried about how serious the injury is.

"I'm more concerned about his future," Dunn said. "He's a young man who could very easily be in the starting lineup. It's not easy for a man who plays 29 minutes to come off the bench like that."

The bench was cold for the Lions in Tuesday night's semifinal win against the Bulldogs, but Penn State capitalized on Joe Crispin's team-high 18 points. Pete Lisicky scored 13 points and Calvin Booth and Ivory had 11.

Gopher guard Kevin Clark scored a career-high 30 points and forward Sam Jacobson added 24 in Minnesota's 91-89 overtime win over Fresno State.

Penn State and Minnesota split the season series as both teams won at home.

Despite the hoopla of an all-Big Ten NIT, Haskins said he is not looking forward to meeting the Lions again.

"There's never any fun when you're playing within the Big Ten," he said. "When you're playing against people like coach Dunn and Penn State, they're one of those teams, I think, has a future. When you have a Booth on the ballclub as one of the premier shot blockers, when you have Lisicky, who is one of the premier 3-point shooters, and you take Crispin and Ivory, the whole team is really coming together and jelling at the right time."