Hokies' Dorenzo Hudson gets fouled by Mississippi's Kenny Williams in first half. Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times

Mississippi's Kenny Williams (50), who had 10 points and 11 rebounds, dunks on Hokies in closing minutes last night. Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times

NIT quarterfinal: Mississippi at Virginia Tech

Date published: 3/27/2008

BY JIM McCONNELL

BLACKSBURG--

Virginia Tech's defense and rebounding, which had fueled the Hokies' dramatic late-season improvement, were no match for a bigger, stronger and more opportunistic Mississippi squad.

And unlike with Virginia Tech's last two victims, the Hokies' game-opening 12-3 run and earsplitting Cassell Coliseum crowd didn't rattle the visiting Rebels.

Behind a 46-23 rebounding advantage and 64 percent second-half shooting, Mississippi ended Virginia Tech's season and advanced to next week's NIT Final Four with an 81-72 quarterfinal victory.

"We're going to hit shots, but our defense is the key to our team," Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney said. "We didn't guard the ball as well as we usually do. We let them score a lot of points and we really played into their hands."

Mostly, the Hokies had no answer for Mississippi's balanced offense. While senior post players Dwayne Curtis (6-foot-8, 262 pounds) and Kenny Williams (6-8, 240) manhandled Virginia Tech's youngsters in the paint, freshman point guard Chris Warren and sophomore wing David Huertas combined to hit 8 of 17 3-pointers.

Both Curtis (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Williams (10 points, 11 rebounds) finished with double-doubles. Warren paced the Rebels with 22 points and Huertas added 16.

"We play in a big-boy league, too," Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said, noting that his Rebels led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding margin this season. "All we had to do tonight was come out and be who we are."

Mississippi (24-10) didn't have much time to prepare for last night's game after beating Nebraska in overtime Monday, but Kennedy made sure his players watched the first eight minutes of Virginia Tech's second-round rout of UAB.

The Rebels didn't seem particularly surprised when the Hokies hit five of their first six shots, including 3-pointers by Delaney and A.D. Vassallo. And after Kennedy called a quick timeout to settle them down, they mostly made the partisan crowd a non-factor the rest of the way.

"What a terrific atmosphere. We've been in a lot of venues. I've been doing this awhile and that was as good as it gets," Kennedy added. "Once we got through the emotion of their initial run, I thought we settled in and did a better job."

MISSISSIPPI 81VIRGINIA TECH 72 YESTERDAY'S QUARTERFINALS Mississippi 81, Virginia Tech 72 Ohio State 74, Dayton 63 TUESDAY'S SEMIFINALS At Madison Square Garden, New York Massachusetts (24-10) vs. Florida (24-11), TBA Mississippi (24-10) vs. Ohio State (22-13), TBA

Date published: 3/27/2008