Brunson scores 18 points, No. 8 Villanova beats Stanford

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NEW YORK -- Jalen Brunson scored 18 points and eighth-ranked Villanova survived a poor shooting performance in a 59-45 victory over Stanford in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tipoff on Thursday night.

Brunsonhad 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 Friday 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 five of his 3-point attempts. Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono were a combined 6-of-24 shooting.

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. They will face Arkansas in the consolation game Friday.

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 straight points after Stanford's Reid Travis was called for a technical foul, upping the lead to 52-39 with 4:52 remaining.

TIP-INS

Villanova: Seven of Villanova's school-record 33 wins came in New York last season. The Wildcats won twice in the Legends Classic at Barclays Center, beat St. John's and Illinois during the regular season at Madison Square Garden and won three games there for the Big East Tournament championship. ... Guards Arcidiacono and Hart combined to miss their first 11 3-point attempts. Arcidiacono came into the game shooting 44 percent from 3-point range while Hart entered at 45 percent.

Stanford: Thursday was Stanford's 13th game in New York since 2011-12. Last year, the Cardinal appeared in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, beating UNLV and losing to eventual national champion Duke. ... Stanford faced Villanova for the second time. The other meeting was a 96-70 Cardinal loss on Dec. 23, 1970. ... Stanford missed 12 layups and tip-ins during the first half. ... Stanford guard Malcolm Allen appeared to injure his wrist with about 7 minutes remaining.

UP NEXT:

Villanova: Georgia Tech in the championship game on Friday.

Stanford: Arkansas in the consolation game on Friday.

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