• Chambers coaches PSU into NIT title game
NEW YORK » Tony Carr scored 21 points, Shep Garner added 18 while breaking a school record for career 3-pointers and Penn State routed Mississippi State 75-60 in the National Invitational Tournament semifinals Tuesday night.
The fourth-seeded Nittany Lions (25-13) will play No. 2 seed Utah for the championship Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
After the score was tied 9-all, Penn State ended the first quarter on a 9-2 run. From there, the Nittany Lions opened the second with a 19-0 spurt capped by Garner’s 3 off an assist from Carr to make it 37-11.
Penn State was up 42-23 at halftime and led by as many as 27.
Mississippi State (25-12) wasn’t able to get within 20 until there was 7:56 left in the game. Abdul Ado’s dunk made it 65-47, but that was the closest the Bulldogs got before the waning moments.
Mississippi State was led by Tyson Carter’s 19 points off the bench. Ado had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Lamar Stevens scored 17 points for Penn State. Carr had six assists and five rebounds. UTAH 69, WESTERN KENTUCKY 64» Justin Bibbins scored 19 points and Utah beat Western Kentucky.
Sedrick Barefield added 14 points for the Utes (23-11), who advanced to the NIT championship game for the third time.
They will play Thursday night against No. 4 seed Penn State, a 75-60 winner over Mississippi State.
Tony Carr scored 21 points and Shep Garner 18 to lead the Lions to their 25th win of the season.
Collette had 13 points and seven rebounds for secondseeded Utah. Tyler Rawson scored 12, including a 3-pointer that put the Utes ahead to stay with 38.1 seconds left.
Justin Johnson had 24 points for No. 4 seed Western Kentucky (27-11). Lamonte Bearden added 12 and Dwight Coleby scored 10.
The game went back and forth throughout and wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Utah took a 66-64 lead when Rawson hit a 3 from the right side to snap an 0-for-7 shooting slump for the Utes, who went 8:23 without a field goal.
On the ensuing possession, Bibbins drew a charge against Bearden and knocked down two free throws. Johnson missed a straightaway 3 at the other end, and Barefield’s free throw with five seconds to go made it 6964.