Michigan and Rutgers Advance in the NIT

Lester Abram scored 17 points and Michigan used a balanced attack with five players in double figures Wednesday night to defeat Hawaii, 88-73, in a National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines (21-11) advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals in New York, where they will play the winner of tonight’s Oregon-Notre Dame game.

The Rainbow Warriors (21-12) have made it to the NIT quarterfinals five times, and have lost each game. Michael Kuebler led Hawaii with 19 points.

Michigan’s Graham Brown tied a career high with 14 points.

The Wolverines won the NIT championship in 1997, but the school later gave up the title as part of its self-imposed sanctions stemming from its involvement with now-deceased booster Ed Martin. Michigan is in the postseason, for the first time since the 2000 NIT, because the school won an appeal of a postseason ban in September.

The Wolverines also won the NIT title in 1984, the season before they won two consecutive Big Ten titles, the last conference championships in team history.

The Wolverines were 16-3 at home and are 12-0 at home in NIT games.

Hawaii made quite a turnaround to travel to its first game in Michigan. The Warriors beat Nebraska at home on Monday night, then arrived in Michigan on Wednesday afternoon.

Rutgers 72, Villanova 60 -- Ricky Shields scored 21 points and Herve Lamizana had 13 points, nine rebounds and eight blocked shots to lead the Scarlet Knights to victory at Piscataway, N.J.

Rutgers (19-12) advances to the NIT semifinals for the first time since 1978, when it lost to Texas. The Scarlet Knights meet the winner of tonight’s Iowa State-Marquette game on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Villanova (18-17), which had won four of its last five, lost in the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons. Curtis Sumpter had 15 points for the Wildcats.

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Cumberland of Tennessee defeated Biola, 68-64, in a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics first-round game at Kansas City, Mo.

Irvine Concordia played St. Xavier of Chicago in a late game. Azusa Pacific plays Voorhees of Denmark, S.C., today.

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In Division II games at Bakersfield: Southern Indiana defeated Northwest Missouri State, 88-81; Metro State routed Rollins, 88-54 and Kennesaw State edged Pfeiffer, 86-79. Massachusetts Lowell and Humboldt State played in a late game.