By Andrea Szulszteyn
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Marcus Hatten loves taking gambles. His biggest one Tuesday night helped St. John's reach the National Invitation Tournament final. Hatten stole the ball from Will Chavis and made a layup with 16.2 seconds remaining to give the Red Storm a thrilling 64-63 come-from-behind victory over Bob Knight and Texas Tech in the semifinals.

"I was reading the guy with the ball (Chavis), and I knew he was going to pass it," Hatten said. "So I just turned my back like I wasn't paying him no mind."

The Red Storm held on in the closing seconds after Hatten missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds left. Texas Tech got the ball back following a timeout, and Will Chavis missed a 3-pointer off the rim as the buzzer sounded, sending the St. John's fans running onto the Madison Square Garden court.

The hometown Red Storm (20-13) advance to play Big East rival Georgetown in the NIT title game on Thursday night. St. John's, making its first NIT appearance since 1995, has won an NIT-record five championships, the last one in 1989.

"When you get a guy like Marcus Hatten, you never know what he'll do," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "Anything can happen. The thing that is so great about him is that he gambles like crazy. I don't know if I'd ever want to go to Vegas with him.

"If I had any hair, I wouldn't any more."

Texas Tech (21-13) and Knight play Minnesota in the consolation game. This is Knight's eighth trip to the NIT, and his first since 1985. He made four appearances with Army and three with Indiana.

Hatten led the Red Storm with 24 points.

"Any time you can get a victory against a Bobby Knight-coached team, that's something you remember," Jarvis said.

Andre Emmett led Texas Tech with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Kasib Powell, who's from nearby Teaneck, N.J., added 19 points.

Until Hatten's steal, it looked as if Knight and the Red Raiders would get to the championship game. Robert Tomaszek made a layup with 1:30 remaining to give Texas Tech a 63-62 lead. After Hatten threw the ball out of bounds, Tech tried to use up some of the clock on its possession.

After a kicked ball was called on St. John's and the shot clock was reset, the Red Raiders again tried to run the clock down before taking a shot. But that's when Hatten stepped in and made his crucial play.

"(Hatten's) from Baltimore, and it's kind of dull there. ... Sometimes I think he does these things for the extra excitement," Jarvis said.

The game went back and forth throughout. Texas Tech opened a 57-47 lead with a little over seven minutes to play after an 11-4 run. But the Red Storm came right back and took a 62-59 lead with a 15-2 run of their own.

"We have had a habit of doing that. We have a real habit of relaxing," Knight said. "That little stretch right in there, from about seven minutes left to about six, was the whole ballgame for us."

During the run, freshman Elijah Ingram scored eight straight points, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 59. Hatten then hit a 3-pointer to give St. John's the lead.

Ingram was the only other St. John's player in double figures with 16 points.

"Any opportunity to have a chance to win a championship is golden to me," Hatten said. "I looked forward to this my whole career."

Next up for St. John's is a familiar opponent. The Red Storm beat Georgetown on the road 77-72 earlier this season and lead the all-time series 47-33. Having two teams in the final perhaps is an even bigger statement for a conference that felt it deserved more teams in the NCAA tournament.

So far in postseason play, the Big East has done exceptionally well. Four teams in the NCAA tournament made the round of 16, and two teams are in the NIT final.

Both teams have rebounded from horrible stretches in the regular season. St. John's was 12-12, but a huge 72-71 victory over Duke on March 2 turned things around. Georgetown lost six straight at one point but has played well behind Michael Sweetney.

"Tomorrow when we wake up, we will be one of six teams that still has a chance to win a national championship," Jarvis said. "I think it is incredible. In no time did they ever quit."