Mountaineers land in finals

Darris Nichols hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift West Virginia to 63-62 victory over Mississippi State in the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday night.

Nichols finished with 17 points and Frank Young added 16 to help the Mountaineers (26-9) advance to the NIT finals for the first time since winning the title in 1942.

West Virginia came back from a 14-point deficit in the second half.

The postgame handshakes were delayed briefly as the officials huddled around the courtside monitor to check if any time remained after Nichols’ basket. After about 3 minutes, the officials ruled the 3-pointer good, and no time was left.

Dietric Slater scored 18 points to lead Mississippi State (21-14).

Ruoff had 10 points and Robert Summers grabbed nine rebounds for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers, who made 17 3-pointers in a win over Providence in the Big East tournament at the Garden on March 7, finished 7 for 23 from beyond the arc against Mississippi State.

Clemson 68, Air Force 67: At New York, K.C. Rivers scored 19 points as the Tigers held on to beat the Falcons and advance to the championship.

Trevor Booker added 13 points for Clemson (25-10), which will play West Virginia (26-9) for the championship Thursday night.

Clemson, which tied the 1986-87 Tigers for wins in a season, reached the NIT finals for the second time – and first since losing to California in 1999.

Nick Welch scored 16 points and Matt McCraw 15 for Air Force (26-9), which had its three-game winning streak stopped after reaching the NIT semifinals for the first time in program history.