Mississippi State in NIT final after 84-62 win over La Tech

<p>FRISCO, Texas &mdash; Iverson Molinar scored 25 points and D.J. Stewart Jr. had 23, with the guards combining for nine 3-pointers, as Mississippi State led throughout to beat Louisiana Tech 84-62 on Saturday and reach its first NIT championship game.</p>
<p>Mississippi State (18-14) scored the game’s first 11 points. Molinar, who finished with five 3s, hit from long range on the Bulldogs’ first shot before Stewart had a run of 14 consecutive points that included all four of his made 3s in the matchup of No. 4 seeds.</p>
<p>Two days after hitting the game-winning 3 in the closing seconds of the quarterfinal round to beat Richmond, Stewart made his first five shots. He had eight points in a 79-second span before a Louisiana Tech timeout, then hit consecutive 3s after that for a 17-5 lead. </p>
<p>Big freshman Kenneth Lofton Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Louisiana Tech (23-8), which opened the NIT with a win over another Southeastern Conference team, No. 1 seed Ole Miss. Kalob Ledoux had 11 points and Jacolby Pemberton 10.</p>
<p>Derek Fountain added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting for Mississippi State, which plays Memphis for the NIT championship Sunday. Louisiana Tech was in its first NIT semifinal since 1986, and has never gotten to the title game.</p>
<p>Stewart picked up where he left off after pushing Mississippi State over Richmond 68-67, when his game-winning 3 was the last of 16 lead changes in a game that also included eight ties. </p>
<p>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 3s that made it 54-34 with 13:48 to play. </p>
<p>BREAKING 70</p>
<p>Mississippi State became the first team to score at least 70 points against Louisiana Tech since Jan. 22. Tech had set a school record by holding 14 consecutive opponents under 70 points since an 82-74 loss at UTEP.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Mississippi State takes on No. 1 seed Memphis on Sunday in the first NIT championship game played outside New York City. Louisiana Tech plays a consolation game against Colorado State, which lost 90-67 to the Tigers in the other semifinal Saturday.</p>
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