UMass Minutemen Beat Florida Gators 78-66

Dante Milligan led the University of Massachusetts into the NIT championship game. nnDante Milligan scored 17 points and made several blocks against the Florida Gators, helping UMAS beat the defending NCAA champions, 78-66 on Tuesday. Both Chris Lowe and Ricky Harris scored 16 points each, Gary Forbes scored 19 points and the starters scored all but two points for UMass. They will play either Mississippi or Ohio State this Thursday. nnThe Minutemen got in the lead for the first time since early in the game when Etienne Brower hit a three pointer with 9:49 on the clock. A few minutes after that, Dante Milligan scored. They scored another three for a 59-51 lead with 7:25 left. nnThe Gators couldn't get closer than 6 the rest of the game, finishing a disappointing year, much different than the titles they won in the past. Marreese Speights had 12 points and 18 rebounds for Gators. Nick Calathes scored 12 points and Dan Werner got 11 points and 10 rebounds.nnMilligan scored 24 points in the tournament against Stephen F. Austin. He also got 13 points to help UMass go from 22 down with 14:37 remaining to defeat Syracuse in the quarterfinals. nnThey were fortunate enough to be within 36-27 at the break after a horrible shooting performance which was uncharacteristic for them. They were just 1 of 13 from beyond the arc and after Milligan's put-back with 12:08 remaining, went more than 12 minutes without a field goal. However, the Gators weren't much better. They turned the ball over twice on inbound plays. nnForbes almost brought the shooting slump to an end with nearly 3 minutes left. The ball rolled around the rim and then popped out. Shortly thereafter, he scored on a lay-up.nnnn