The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Matt Lottich fueled Stanford's comeback with a pair of 3-point baskets and the Cardinal rallied for a 69-65 victory over No.7 Florida on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.

Stanford (4-0) advanced to Friday night's championship game against the winner of the second game between No.2 Kansas and North Carolina. Florida (3-1) plays the loser in the consolation game.

The Gators held their largest lead, 53-45, when Lottich nailed a 3-pointer to launch the Cardinal's comeback.

Rob Little, Julius Barnes and Josh Childress whittled away at Florida and Stanford led 62-59 before the Gators regained the lead a basket by Matt Bonner and two free throws by Justin Hamilton.

Lottich responded with another 3-pointer and, after Bonner tied the score at 65, Little's inside basket with 18 seconds left gave Stanford the lead for good.

After Anthony Roberson, who was 1-for-13 from the field, missed for Florida, Josh Davis hit a pair of foul shots to seal the victory.

Rob Little led Stanford with 18 points. Matt Bonner led Florida with 19 points and freshman Matt Walsh scored 17.

STANFORD (4-0)-Childress 3-7 0-2 7, Davis 6-10 2-3 14, Little 7-11 4-4 18, Barnes 4-12 1-2 11, Lottich 4-13 2-2 13, Kirchofer 1-1 0-2 2, Grunfeld 2-5 0-0 4, Robinson 0-1 0-2 0, Haas 0-0 0-0 0, Haryasz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 9-1'7 69.

FLORIDA (3-1)-Bonner 8-15 0-0 19, Walsh 5-11 4-6 17, Lee 3-6 2-4 8, Hamilton 3-6 3-4 10, Roberson 1-13 0-2 2, Nelson 2-7 0-0 5, Moss 1-1 0-0 2, Boggan 1-2 0-0 2, Al-Kaleem 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 9-16 65.

Halftime-Florida 36-32. 3-Point goals-Stanford 6-17 (Lottich 3-9, Barnes 2-4, Childress 1-3, Grunfeld 0-1), Florida 8-28 (Walsh 3-6, Bonner 3-7, Hamilton 1-3, Nelson 1-5, Roberson 0-7). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Stanford 39 (Davis 10), Florida 40 (Walsh 8). Assists-Stanford 16 (Barnes 6), Florida 12 (Walsh 6). Total fouls-Stanford 13, Florida 20. A-NA.

No. 3 Texas 76, Texas-Arlington 45

AUSTIN, Texas - James Thomas had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Longhorns. (3-0). It was Thomas' 14th career double-double.

Derrick Obasohan scored 17 points for Texas-Arlington (1-3).

No. 5 Pittsburgh 69, St. Francis, Pa. 46

PITTSBURGH - The Panthers' Brandin Knight was 4-of-11 while scoring 10 points, but just missed a rare triple-double for a guard with nine assists and a game-high eight rebounds.

Pitt (2-0) opened a 14-3 lead with 71/2 minutes gone off a succession of Knight feeds on fast breaks. St. Francis (1-1) didn't score in double figures until 4:52 remained in the first half.

ST. FRANCIS, PA. (1-1) - Daley 4-11 1-2 9, Gibson 0-1 0-0 0, Saragba 1-2 2-2 4, Luckey 6-15 2-2 14, Wills 6-16 0-0 17, Swoger 0-1 0-0 0, Goodson 0-6 1-2 1, Ulmer 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 17-52 7-10 46.

PITTSBURGH (2-0) - Brown 5-7 0-0 10, Zavackas 3-5 2-2 8, Lett 3-8 3-6 9, Page 4-11 2-2 11, Knight 4-11 0-0 10, Troutman 1-2 0-1 2, Demetris 0-2 0-0 0, Krauser 4-6 3-4 13, McCarroll 0-1 0-1 0, Morris 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 27-57 10-16 69.

Halftime-Pittsburgh 33-17. 3-Point goals-St. Francis 5-15 (Wills 5-10, Gibson 0-1, Luckey 0-1, Goodson 0-3), Pittsburgh 5-21 (Krauser 2-4, Knight 2-7, Page 1-5, Brown 0-1, Demetris 0-1, McCarroll 0-1, Zavackas 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-St. Francis 31 (Wills 6), Pittsburgh 40 (Knight 8). Assists-St. Francis 9 (Daley 4), Pittsburgh 21 (Knight 9). Total fouls-St. Francis 18, Pittsburgh 15. A-8,686.

Georgia Tech 83, No. 17 Georgia 77

ATLANTA - B.J. Elder shook off cramping in his right leg and scored 24 points for the Yellow Jackets (2-0), who overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to snap a three-game losing streak against their state rival.

Jarvis Hayes scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs (1-2), who lost to No.3 Texas and travel to No.24 Minnesota Saturday.

GEORGIA (2-0) - Lycett 4-6 0-0 9, C.Thomas 4-10 1-2 9, Braxton 10-17 0-1 20, Baker 4-7 0-2 8, Kendrick 4-7 0-0 9, Taylor 5-6 0-0 11, Pierce 2-7 3-4 7, Frye 3-8 0-0 6, Driskell 1-2 1-2 4, Felder 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 40-76 5-11 89.

GEORGIA STATE (1-2) - Edwards 3-10 1-1 7, Coates 4-8 1-1 9, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 5-16 6-7 16, Hartman 1-7 2-3 4, Tisdale 6-8 0-0 12, Moore 0-1 2-2 2, Strickland 0-1 0-0 0, Richmond 0-0 0-0 0, Neely 0-2 0-0 0, M.Thomas 0-5 0-2 0. Totals 19-61 12-16 50.

Halftime-Georgia 45, Georgia St. 25. 3-Point goals-Georgia 4-9 (Taylor 1-1, Driskell 1-1, Lycett 1-2, Kendrick 1-2, C.Thomas 0-1, Pierce 0-1, Frye 0-1), Georgia St. 0-5 (Moore 0-1, Edwards 0-2, M.Thomas 0-2). Fouled out-Rogers. Rebounds-Georgia 52 (Thomas 8), Georgia St. 32 (Tisdale 7). Assists-Georgia 22 (Lycett 5), Georgia St. 7 (Miller, Hartman, Tisdale 2). A-1,347.

Notes

MEMPHIS: Guards Billy Richmond and Clyde Wade were suspended for one game for their part in a brawl Monday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Wade will miss Tuesday's game against Arkansas-Little Rock and Richmond, a transfer from Vanderbilt, will miss the first game in which he is eligible to play.

LASALLE: Chukwunike Okosa was dismissed from the team for unspecified rules violations. The 6-foot-10 senior started all 32 of the Explorers' games last season and averaged 11.3 points and 8.2 rebounds.