Memphis guard Boogie Ellis (5) makes a pass as Mississippi State forward Derek Fountain (20), Cameron Matthews (4), Abdul Ado, bottom front, and D.J. After just missing out on their first NCAA Tournament since 2013-14, the Tigers went into the NIT as a No. Cameron Matthews scored 19 to pace Mississippi State, and Deivon Smith had 17. STYMIED STEWARTAfter being the first Mississippi State player ever with three consecutive 20-point poststeason games, D.J. Iverson Molinar, who had 25 points in the semifinal for Mississippi State, finished with six against Memphis.

6 Alabama blew out Mississippi State 85-48 on Friday in an SEC quarterfinal. Alabama followed a couple of small early runs with a 17-0 surge over nearly five minutes for an eventual 43-13 cushion just before halftime. The Tide also swarmed the Bulldogs defensively, scoring 24 points off 14 first-half turnovers and holding them to 30% shooting overall. “To get beat this badly was really, really a bitter pill,” he said. Alabama drained 3s in bunches to put this game away early and protected the ball.