Clemson (20-14) vs. California (21-11)               7:30 pm EST
National Invitation Tournament                 Championship Game
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NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The first-ever meeting between Clemson and
California will be staged tonight in the championship game of
the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. 

Clemson (20-14) is appearing in a championship game of a
postseason tournament -- NCAA or NIT -- for the first time in
school history.  Tuesday's game with Xavier was its first
semifinal appearance in a postseason tournament. Technically,
the Tigers' only postseason tournament championship took place
60 years ago, when they won four games in four days to capture
the Southern Conference title. 

It has been 40 years since California (21-11) won the NCAA
Tournament championship with a 71-70 victory over West Virginia.
The Bears have reached the NIT championship game for the first
time after three prior apperances in the tournament. 

The semifinals for these teams were a complete contrast.
California got a career-high 22 points -- all in the second half
-- from senior forward Michael Gill and opened the game up early
in the second half en route to an 85-69 rout of Pac-10
Conference rival Oregon. 

Clemson was involved in one of the wildest games in NIT history
with Xavier. The Tigers blew a 24-point second-half lead, fell
behind 76-73 with 1:25 left, and then recovered for the victory
as center Tom Wideman made a pair of crucial free throws with 29
seconds remaining. 

The Tigers have beaten Georgia, Rutgers and Butler en route to
the title game. Clemson's frontline of Wideman, forwards Harold
Jamison and Andrius Jurknuas and 7-foot reserve center Adam
Allenspach have outrebounded all four of its NIT opponents.  In
fact, the Tigers have been outrebounded just six times in 34
games this season. 

Although the Bears have not been strong on the boards this
season, they were able to defeat the Ducks for the first time in
three games. Seven-foot center Francisco Elson had perhaps his
best game of the campaign, grabbing eight rebounds to go along
with his career-high tying 13 points. 

Wideman had 15 rebounds against Xavier after grabbing a
career-high 17 in the quarterfinal triumph against Butler. 

Gill and Sean Lampley join Elson in California's frontcourt.
Lampley scored 16 points on Tuesday, including 10 straight
during the first half, and accumulated 28 points and 14 rebounds
in a first-round NIT triumph against Fresno State. 

While California's frontcourt has gelled, the backcourt has been
steady all season long.  Point guard Geno Carlisle and mate
Thomas Kilgore top the team in scoring at 15.9 and 14.2 points
per game, respectively. 

Both transfered to the school prior to last season -- Kilgore
from Eastern Michigan and Carlisle from Northwestern.  But the
Bears were on probation for the 1997-98 campaign and prohibited
from participating in the NCAA Tournament, so the pair led the
way in this year's postseason run, which also includes a
second-round victory over DePaul and a quarterfinal triumph
against Colorado State. 

Four of the Bears' starters -- Lampley being the lone exception
-- are seniors, who will conclude their careers in this game.
Ironically, Clemson also starts four seniors desperate to close
their collegiate careers with a championship. 

Along with Wideman and Jamison, guards Terrell McIntyre and Tony
Christie will be wearing a Clemson jersey for the final time
tonight.  McIntyre, a dynamic 5-9 point guard, leads the Tigers
with 17.9 points and 5.4 assists per game. He has totaled 1,802
points and 571 assists at Clemson, second in school history in
both categories. 

Jamison averages 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, which ranks among
the best rebounders in the nation.  The 6-8 power forward is
shooting 67.3 percent (169-of-251) from the field, a record pace
for an Atlantic Coast Conference player.  He is slightly ahead
of the 67 percent pace set by Clemson's Dale Davis, but needs
six field goals tonight to qualify for the record. 

The teams have played one common opponent this season -- North
Carolina.  The Bears upset the Tar Heels, 78-71, on December 29,
while Clemson split two meetings with its ACC rival, losing
69-53 on January 2 but recording a 78-63 victory on February 4. 

Clemson's Larry Shyatt has won 20 games in his first season at
the helm, a school record for a first-year coach. California's
Ben Braun has compiled a 56-35 record in three seasons in
Berkeley, including taking the Bears to the regional semifinals
in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.