J.T. Durley and Graham Hatch scored 12 points apiece to lead another balanced effort by Wichita State, and the Shockers beat Alabama 66-57 on Thursday at Madison Square Garden to claim the first NIT title in school history.

The Shockers' NCAA tournament bubble burst when they were bounced by Indiana State in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, but they took a nice consolation prize home from New York City, finishing off an impressive run through the NIT field as a No. 4 seed.

Durley scored 11 of his 12 points in the first half, as Wichita State (29-8) built an early eight-point lead. The Crimson Tide (25-12) trimmed it to 37-34 at halftime and briefly regained the lead early in the second half, but the Shockers reeled off an 8-0 run and didn't trail again.

Hatch's fourth 3-pointer of the game made it 64-52 with 3:06 left, and the margin didn't dip below nine after that.

Tony Mitchell led Alabama with 13 points and 10 rebounds, JaMychal Green scored 12 points and Trevor Releford and Charvez Davis added 10 apiece, but the rest of the team was 2 for 16 from the field.

Aaron Ellis and Garrett Stutz added eight points apiece for Wichita State, which was 7 for 15 from 3-point range, compared to Alabama's 2 for 14 from beyond the arc.