It may not be the NCAA Tournament, but the NIT still packs a powerful and exciting punch.
Trevor Releford scored the game-winning bucket with 12 seconds remaining to send No. 1 seed Alabama past fellow No. 1 seed Colorado, 62-61, in the second of two semifinal games at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Wichita State blew out Washington State, 75-44, in the first semifinal game.
Releford finished with 13 points for the Crimson Tide (25-11), who shot 50 percent from the field. JaMychal Green scored 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting and both Chris Hines and Tony Mitchell scored eight points for Alabama.
Alec Burks scored 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe, to lead Colorado.
In the day's first game, Garrett Stutz finished with 24 points to lead the fourth-seeded Shockers past the second-seeded Cougars, 75-44. Toure' Murry had 13 points and Gabe Blair added 10 points and nine rebonds for Wichita State. DeAngelo Casto and Reggie Moore each scored nine points to lead Washington State. Klay Thompson, the Cougars' leading scorer, was held to six points on 1-of-10 shooting.
Alabama will face Wichita State in the 2011 NIT championship game on Thursday night.