Chris Warren scored five of his 22 points during a 9-0 second half run Wednesday night and Mississippi beat Virginia Tech 81-72.

The win means the Rebels advance to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York next week.

Ole Miss (24-10) led 51-49 with 10:49 to play before Warren's layup sparked the burst.

He later added a 3-pointer, Eniel Polynice hit a jumper and Kenny Williams made a layup to cap the spurt, which gave the Rebels a 60-49 led with 8:22 to play.

The Hokies (21-14) got 23 points from Deron Washington in the final game of his college career, but never got closer than seven after the run.

Dwayne Curtis added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Rebels; Williams had 10 points and 11 rebounds and David Huertas finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Mississippi shot better than 49 percent and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.