With spotlight on, UMass, Ford fall to Ohio State in NIT

Kosta Koufos (right) had 22 points as the Buckeyes rebounded from a halftime deficit to win the NIT title. AP

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NEW YORK -- The eyes of April were upon UMass coach Travis Ford on Thursday night.

With his name being bandied about for current vacancies, Ford knows this is the month when athletic directors would be tracking tracking the Minutemen's march through the NIT

Appearing on the championship stage, the third-year head Minuteman showed up clean cut, hair-parted and baby-faced, ready to impress with his team's defense and "Let's go!" offense early on. The carryover from the comeback winagainst Florida in the semifinals led to a 41-36 halftime lead. "It was like they had six guys on us," said Ohio State guard Jamar Butler (19 points). "Once we got settled and got the pace, we were ready."

Though Ford may soon be the hunted, it was Ohio State's Othello Hunter (17 points and 9 rebounds) who helped Ohio State catch up to the Minutemen and then surge past them to win the third NIT title in school history 92-85. "A lot of teams blow off the NIT, but we just kept on working hard from the game on our court to here," said freshman Kosta Koufos, who scored 22 points. "Down low we worked to get back in it."

A non-factor early on, Koufos had one stretch near the final five minutes where he stuck a three from the corner pocket, grabbed an offensive rebound for a put-back dunk and drove the lane for another lay up. The Koufos run was needed to outpace UMass sophomore Ricky Harris (game-high 27 points), who hit three straight three-pointers to tie the game with less than five minutes remaining. Ohio State answered with an unexpected three-point threat of its own in Evan Turner, who was 3-of-3 from three-point land after not hitting one since a Feb. 26 loss to Indiana. "I think I watched 10-12 games of Ohio State in the last 24 hours, and Turner hitting threes was not something I expected," Ford said.

A year after losing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament title game to Florida, Thad Matta, Brutus and the Buckeyes had a title -- albeit not the one they started out to win. "I'm kind of a sore loser," said Matta when asked if he would watch this weekend's FInal Four. "But I don't know what I'm going to do. I know I'm going to rest."

For Ford, the busy season may be just beginning. Signs of change dotted the crowd behind the UMass bench. One asked politely: "Please Stay Travis". Another read: "Travis Ford: Forget LSU, Stay @ the Zoo", in response to reports that LSU and its new president John Lombardi, who hired Ford at UMass, would come calling for the former SEC player of the year at Kentucky.

Asked afterward if he had been seen the signs, Ford said he had not.

"It makes me question other things because I haven't talked to anyone," Ford said, responding to the rumors of LSU or Providence's interest.

When pressed as to whether he intends on being UMass's coach next year, Ford said, "Absolutely."

Will Ford stay or will he geaux?

That will be determined soon enough. For now, eyes will remain trained on him until potential suitors make a decision. On this night in early April, the attention and the title, unlike last year, belonged to the Buckeyes.