Auburn Player Comes Up Big In Honor Of Father
NIT highlights
Two days after his father passed away, Mamadou N’diaye honored him by playing the best game of his career.
The sophomore center scored a career-high 19 points Wednesday to lead host Auburn to a 77-62 victory over Southern Mississippi in the first round of the NIT.
It snapped a five-game losing streak for the Tigers (16-13) and marked their first NIT win in four appearances. It was the first postseason victory of any sort for Auburn since the first round of the 1988 NCAA tournament.
But it was more important than that for N’diaye - a native of Dakar, Senegal - who received the news about his 65-year-old father’s death from coach Cliff Ellis on Monday night in his dormitory room.
“One of the things I wanted to accomplish while I was here was to have the chance for him to see me play,” N’diaye said. “He never did, but I know he was looking down watching tonight.”
N’diaye shot 8 for 11, grabbed five rebounds and was a consistent defensive presence, finishing with two blocked shots and a number of others altered.
The 7-foot center scored eight points during a 16-4 second-half run that helped the Tigers turn a four-point deficit into a 52-44 lead with 9:34 left.
“N’diaye played his best basketball tonight,” Ellis said. “He put everything he had into this game. He showed his love for basketball, this team and Auburn. The other kids see that and they respect that.”
Elsewhere:
At Atlanta, freshman Dion Glover scored a season-high 33 points and Georgia Tech started the second half with a 20-5 run en route to an 88-78 win over Seton Hall.
At Raleigh, N.C., C.C. Harrison had four second-half 3-pointers in a 20-point performance in North Carolina State’s 59-39 win over Kansas State.
At State College, Pa., Pete Lisicky scored 20 points, and Jarrett Stephens added 19 points as Penn State defeated Rider 82-68.
At Minneapolis, Sam Jacobson scored 20 points as Minnesota ran away from Colorado State, 77-65.
At Columbia, Mo., Fred Williams scored a career-high 23 points for Alabama-Birmingham in its win over Missouri, 93-86.
xxxx NIT RESULTS Georgia Tech 88, Seton Hall 78 North Carolina State 59, Kansas State 39 Penn State 82, Rider 68 Auburn 77, Southern Miss 62 Dayton 95, Long Island 92 Georgetown 71, Florida 69 Marquette 80, Creighton 68 Memphis 90, Ball State 67 Minnesota 77, Colorado State 65 Alabama-Birmingham 93, Missouri 86 Vanderbilt 73, St. Bonaventure 61 Gonzaga 69, Wyoming 55 Georgia 100, Iowa 93 Fresno State 73, Pacific 70 Arizona State (18-13) at Hawaii (19-8), (n)