West Virginia wins NIT

West Virginia has a championship to help lessen the disappointment of not playing in the NCAA tournament.

Frank Young and the Mountaineers shot past Clemson to their first NIT title in 65 years.

Young made six three-point baskets and scored 24 points, and Da’Sean Butler scored 20 points to help West Virginia defeat Clemson, 78-73, in the championship game Thursday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Young was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

It was the Mountaineers’ first NIT title since 1942, when they beat Western Kentucky.

West Virginia (27-9) had advanced to the championship game by beating Mississippi State, 63-62, on Darris Nichols’ buzzer-beating three-pointer. Nichols finished with 13 points and nine assists in the championship game.

Clemson (25-11) trailed by double digits for the entire second half before a late spurt cut it to five with three seconds left. K.C. Rivers scored 18 points to lead the Tigers.

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Sophomores Courtney Paris of Oklahoma and Candace Parker of Tennessee are among the five finalists for the John R. Wooden award, given to college basketball’s outstanding women’s player.

Others invited to the April 7 presentation at the Los Angeles Athletic Club are North Carolina senior Ivory Latta, Duke senior Lindsey Harding and Louisiana State junior Sylvia Fowles.

The award ceremony will include the presentation of the men’s and women’s Wooden Award, the All-America teams and Legends of Coaching award to former Purdue coach Gene Keady.

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Texas A&M; Coach Billy Gillispie will remain with the Aggies, the school’s athletic director told Arkansas officials.

Texas A&M; Athletic Director Bill Byrne gave Arkansas permission to talk to Gillispie on Thursday morning, said a person close to the Arkansas coach search who requested anonymity.

But Byrne called Arkansas again about noon, saying Gillispie intended to stay put, the Arkansas official said.

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Kevin McKenna, a former NBA player and an assistant coach at Creighton for nine years, was hired by Indiana State for his first NCAA Division I head coaching position.

McKenna succeeds Royce Waltman, who was fired this month after the Sycamores finished their sixth consecutive losing season with a loss to Creighton in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

McKenna was a fourth-round draft pick by the Lakers in 1981 and was a seldom-used reserve on their NBA championship team. He returned to the NBA with the Indiana Pacers in 1983, when he started 13 games and averaged 6.3 points.