Huskies playing for trip to MSG

The last time the University of Washington men’s basketball team went to New York City to play at Madison Square Garden, the Huskies went toe-to-toe with 11th-ranked Marquette, got sucker-punched by seventh-ranked Duke, and vowed to be better if they got another shot. That chance could come this week.

With a win over Oregon tonight at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, the Huskies would be going back to Madison Square Garden as a member of the National Invitation Tournament semifinals.

It’s not quite the prize Washington envisioned for a finish to the season, but the Huskies will be satisfied just for another opportunity.

“Everybody loves New York; to play in a historic arena like the Madison Square Garden,” UW freshman Tony Wroten said Monday. “Obviously, you want to be in the NCAA tournament, but since we’re here, we’ll try to take full advantage of it. That’s our goal: to go to Madison Square Garden and win.”

Stanford 92, Illinois State 88 (OT): Chasson Randle hit a 3-pointer with just over a minute left in overtime to put the Cardinal (23-11) ahead to stay in a win over the Redbirds (21-14) at Stanford, Calif.

Aaron Bright hit six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 29 points for Stanford.

Middle Tennessee 71, Tennessee 64: Bruce Massey had 20 points and 10 rebounds and hit a go-ahead layup with 1:30 left to send the fourth-seeded Blue Raiders (27-6) past the top-seeded Volunteers (19-15) at Knoxville, Tenn.

The Blue Raiders closed the game on a 15-0 run. The Sun Belt’s regular season champions will face No. 6 seed Minnesota at home on Wednesday.

Minnesota 78, Miami 60: Rodney Williams scored 21 points to lead the Golden Gophers (21-14) past the Hurricanes (20-13) in the second round in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Gophers never trailed after starting the game on a 12-0 run. Williams scored 16 in the first half.

Rion Brown scored 16 points for Miami.