Mississippi State gets the bounce, and Baylor gets bounced

WACO — Quinndary Weatherspoon got a friendly bounce off the rim on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Mississippi State over Baylor 78-77 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

Aric Holman’s blocked shot led to a fast break, and Weatherspoon sank a 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs to within one at 7170. Terry Maston answered with a baseline jumper and banked in a shot on the Bears’ next possession to make it 75-72.

After a timeout, Lamar Peters found Tyson Carter open in the corner for a 3-pointer to tie it at 75 with 34.8 seconds remaining. Manu Lecomte worked the clock down, drove the lane and made a contested floater off the glass with 5.1 seconds left. Weatherspoon inbounded it, and Peters found him trailing the play for a3.

Carter led fourth-seeded Mississippi State (24-11) with 19 points. Weatherspoon finished with 13 points.

Top-seeded Baylor (19-15) was led by Maston’s 26 points. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. added 17 points with eight rebounds.

LOUISVILLE 84 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 68

Ray Spalding scored 18 points and Jordan Nwora added 17 as the Cardinals won at Louisville, Ky., and cruised into the quarterfinals.

Ryan McMahon chipped in 15 points and V.J. King 13 for Louisville (22-13), which will face Mississippi State (24-11) on Tuesday night.

Conference USA player of the year Nick King scored 24 points for the Blue Raiders (25-8).

MARQUETTE 101, OREGON 92

Andrew Rowsey scored 29 points and dished out nine assists, and the Golden Eagles had their highest-scoring output of the season in a secondround victory over the Ducks at Milwaukee.

Marquette (21-13) led by 25 points early in the fourth quarter and kept a double-digit lead until Payton Pritchard’s dunk at the final horn.

MiKyle McIntosh went 15of-18 from the free-throw line and scored 25 points for Oregon (23-13).