NEW YORK - The University of Texas men's basketball team hooked its horns to a tournament championship.
Dylan Osetkowski had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas to an 81-66 win over Lipscomb in the National Invitation Tournament title game Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
"It's great to win a championship," coach Shaka Smart said.
The Longhorns (21-16) beat South Dakota State, Xavier, Colorado and TCU to reach the final, then survived a few late shots at the lead from the Nashville program to win their first NIT title since 1978.
Smart, 71-66 in four seasons with the Longhorns, got Texas to cut down the nets at the same time he was reportedly on the short list of candidates to fill the head coaching vacancy at UCLA. Texas has not won an NCAA tournament game under Smart, and few Texas fans would weep if he left for the Bruins.
Texas fans at the Garden, though, enjoyed the title and held up the "hook 'em" hand gesture as the final seconds ticked off.
Smart was doused with water in the locker room and had a towel with him as he walked to the postgame news conference.
"There have been teams that have come and won the NIT and used it as an unbelievable springboard," Smart said. "And there's teams that haven't."
Jase Febres held off the pesky Bisons (29-8) with 3-pointers in the second half that extended the Longhorns' lead to 13 points each time to keep them firmly in charge. He finished with 16 points, as did Kerwin Roach II, who was named the NIT's most outstanding player.
Texas won in front of about 3,000 spectators, with not one sitting above the lower bowl.
Penn State nearly packed MSG last year, in large part because of a substantial alumni base and having rapper Flavor Flav in the house rooting on his cousin.
This year? Well, there were a few hundred fans in burnt orange, and that was about it.
So who came to the game? Hours after the New York Mets won their home opener against the Washington Nationals, the train hub at Penn Station was packed with fans in Mets jerseys. Some decided to make it a day-night doubleheader and hit the Garden.
There was a small group that had made NIT games a tradition for the past 10 years. In a StubHub era in which tickets are grossly inflated from their face value cost, one fan said there wasn't anywhere else you can sit in the front row and watch men's college basketball for a reasonable price.
StubHub had tickets in the prime 100 level going for $11 just 24 hours before tipoff - which is at least cheaper than a concession stand burger.
Osetkowski hit three 3s for 15 points in the first half as the Longhorns raced out to a 41-27 lead.
Garrison Mathews, named an Associated Press All-America honorable mention, scored 15 points for the Bisons. He made all 10 free throws he took but missed eight of his 10 shots from the floor.
Rob Marberry scored 17 points and Ahsan Asadullah had 11, but with its best player in a funk, Lipscomb was all but doomed.
"They took Garrison for the large part out of the game," Bisons coach Casey Alexander said. "The only thing to be sad about is that it's over."