Guard play sends Mississippi State, Memphis into finals

FRISCO, Texas — D.J. Stewart got off to such a fast start that Mississippi State didn’t need another last-second shot to get to the NIT Championship game.

Iverson Molinar scored 25 points and Stewart had 23, with the guards combining for 9 three-pointers, as Mississippi State led throughout to beat Louisiana Tech 84-62 on Saturday in a semifinal.

Two days after hitting the game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarterfinal round to beat Richmond, Stewart made his first five shots, including all four of his made three-pointers in the game matching the No. 4-seeded Bulldogs.

“That really gave us a lift, gave our guys a lot of confidence,” Coach Ben Howland said.

Mississippi State (18-14) scored the game’s first 11 points. Molinar, who finished with five three-pointers, hit from long range on the Bulldogs’ first shot before Stewart had a run of 14 consecutive points for an early 17-5 lead.

“It kind of got us in a lead … the way the game was going, it gave us momentum,” Molinar said.

Freshman Kenneth Lofton Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Louisiana Tech (23-8), which opened the NIT with a win over another SEC team, No. 1 seed Ole Miss. Kalob Ledoux had 11 points and Jacolby Pemberton 10.

“We played a very good team in Mississippi State today, and that very good team played extremely well,” Louisiana Tech Coach Eric Konkol said. “We were playing from behind from the very beginning. I thought our team exerted a lot of effort to try to get back in.”

Derek Fountain added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting for Mississippi State, which plays Memphis today in its first NIT title game. Louisiana Tech was in its first NIT semifinal since 1986, and has never gotten further.

Stewart picked up where he left off after pushing Mississippi State over Richmond 68-67, when his game-winning three-pointer was the last of 16 lead changes in a game that also included eight ties.

Isaiah Crawford made a layup for Louisiana Tech to cut the gap to 41-31. Mississippi State responded with a 13-3 run when Stewart had a layup and Molinar scored 11 points, including three consecutive three-pointers that made it 54-34 with 13:48 to play. Molinar scored 20 of his points after halftime, after Stewart had 19 in the first half.

“I feel like it’s just whoever has the hot hand, and getting them the ball,” Molinar said. “Just the flow of the game, I kind of let the game come to me, I don’t feel like I forced stuff. … When I got it going, I got it going.”

MEMPHIS 90, COLORADO STATE 67

Memphis is playing for a championship in Penny Hardaway’s third season coaching his alma mater.

Sophomore guard Landers Nolley II scored a career-high 27 points with seven of the Tigers’ season-high 14 made three-pointers, and they advanced to their first NIT championship game since winning the title in 2002.

“I’m proud of the team. Our most complete game all year was today, even though we started off kind of slow, still scored 90 points,” Hardaway said. “For multiple guys to get hot on the same night, I’ve been asking for that all year and today’s game was one of those games.”

Nolley scored 24 of his points after halftime, after Lester Quinones made 3 three-pointers in a 22-2 run in the first half that put the Tigers (19-8) ahead to stay. DeAndre Williams finished with 21 points for Memphis, and Quinones had 18 with four three-pointers.

David Roddy had 18 points and Isaiah

Stevens 17 for Colorado State (20-7).

Memphis’ last NCAA Tournament was 2013-14, and the Tigers just missed this year. They are 9-2 since the start of February with a pair one-possession losses six days apart against NCAA Sweet 16 team Houston. The sixth-ranked Cougars won 76-74 in the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals, five days after hitting a last-second three-pointer at home to beat Memphis 67-64 in the regular-season finale.

The Tigers were instead a No. 1 seed in the NIT, which was reduced from its usual 32 to 16 teams and is being played in North Texas because of the coronavirus pandemic that led to the event’s cancellation last year. It is the first time the final NIT games are being played outside of New York City.

Hardaway says it takes a lot keep his team from getting distracted during a game, but that he doesn’t expect any lack of motivation Sunday.

“I don’t think so because it’s for the championship,” Hardaway said. “We’re playing good basketball. We know who we are.”