Stanford Routs Minnesota to Win N.I.T. With the football team commanding the athletic spotlight on Stanford's campus, it's easy to forget that the basketball program was not long ago the perennial powerhouse in Palo Alto, Calif. Those days seem distant, after three years of mediocrity in an underwhelming era of the Pac-12 conference. But Johnny Dawkins, in the fourth year of his first head-coaching job after nearly a decade as an assistant, has figured out how to find Stanford that familiar taste of success. The Cardinal cruised past Minnesota, 75-51, to win the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, painting a defensive masterpiece in a second-half smothering of the Gophers. It was Stanford's first N.I.T. title since 1991. While this championship won't carry the significance of a win in the N.C.A.A. tournament - which Stanford was a part of for 11 straight seasons from 1995-2005 - it is still a crowning achievement for Dawkins and a team not expected to accomplish much this year. The freshman Chasson Randle scored 15 points and the sophomore Aaron Bright added 13 off the bench for the third-seeded Cardinal, who used a 20-6 run at the start of the second half to springboard to a 20-point lead. Minnesota's Rodney Williams scored 7 points in the game's first six minutes. Then Stanford went on a 14-2 run, spurred by 7 consecutive points by Bright, to snatch the lead. The Cardinal went into halftime ahead, 31-25. Sixth-seeded Minnesota hit 5 of its first 7 shots but finished the half 4 of 20. In the second half, Stanford seized control, using its size around the rim to alter shots and preventing the poor-shooting Gophers from getting any scoring in transition. The Cardinal held Minnesota to 10-of-25 shooting in the second half while forcing 21 turnovers, gathering 11 steals and winning the rebounding battle, 37-29. Bright was named the N.I.T. most valuable player. Minnesota's season ends bitterly after the Gophers won six of their last seven games to make an impressive run at the N.I.T. title. A promising start to the year gave way when the leading scorer and preseason All-Big Ten selection Trevor Mbakwe torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Nov. 27. For Stanford, there are indications that Dawkins, the former Duke star and longtime assistant, has found his groove. The Cardinal's 26 wins this season are 11 more than a year before. The top scorer, Randle, a former Mr. Basketball in Illinois, is a freshman. Next year's incoming class is considered its best in years. On Thursday, Stanford's three leading scorers (Bright, Randle and Anthony Brown) were each underclassmen. Stanford won't have one mainstay at its disposal next year - Thursday was the last game for the assistant coach Dick Davey, who will retire after 44 years on the sideline, including 15 as the head coach at Santa Clara. Davey has been alongside Dawkins since the outset, through the growing pains of a 14-18 record in 2010 and a 15-16 season last year. He was sent out on top Thursday, the first time in a while Stanford's season has ended on a high note.