Nevada hangs on to beat Wichita St.
Luke Babbitt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to help the Nevada hang on for a 74-70 victory over Wichita State (25-10) in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night at Wichita, Kan.
Nevada (21-12) will play at Rhode Island in the second round.
After being held in check during the first half, Babbitt - the Western Athletic Conference player of the year - scored seven points in the first 4:03 of the second half to give the Wolf Pack a 42-35 lead.
Virginia Tech 81, Quinnipiac 61: At Blacksburg, Va., Malcolm Delaney scored 25 points to lead Virginia Tech past Quinnipiac (23-10) in a first-round NIT game.
The Hokies (24-8) will host Connecticut in the second round.
Mississippi 84, Troy 65: At Oxford, Miss., Terrico White scored 27 points to lead Mississippi (22-10) past Troy (20-13) in the first round of the NIT.
Rhode Island 76, Northwestern 64: At Kingston, R.I., Akeem Richmond scored 16 points as Rhode Island (24-9) defeated Northwestern (20-14) in an NIT opener.
Cincinnati 76, Weber State 62: At Cincinnati, Deonta Vaughn scored 16 points, leading the Bearcats (19-15) past Weber State (20-11) in an NIT opener.
Cincinnati will host Dayton in the second round.
Memphis 73, St. John's 71: At Memphis, Tenn., Wesley Witherspoon hit the winning layup as time expired to lift Memphis (24-9) past St. John's (17-16) in the opening round of the NIT.
The Tigers next face Mississippi.
Dayton 63, Illinois State 42: At Dayton, Ohio, Chris Johnson scored 13 points and Dayton (21-12) beat Illinois State (22-11) in the opening round of the NIT.
Illinois 76, Stony Brook 66: At Stony Brook, N.Y., Mike Davis scored 17 points to lead Illinois past Stony Brook (22-10) in a first-round NIT game.
Illinois (20-14) will play in the second round against Kent State.
Kent State 75, Tulsa 74: At Kent, Ohio, Rodriguez Sherman's layup with 20.8 seconds remaining led Kent State (24-9) past Tulsa (23-12) in the first round of the NIT.