Quinndary Weatherspoon hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as Mississippi State survived blowing a pair of double-digit leads and pulled out a 78-77 win over top-seeded Baylor in the second round of the NIT at Ferrell Center in Waco Texas on Sunday

The Bulldogs (24-11) blew leads of 20 in the first half and 14 in the third quarter. They trailed by nine with 4:46 remaining but won the game dramatically.

Baylor took a 77-75 lead when Manu Lecomte banked in a floater with 5.1 seconds remaining. Mississippi raced up the court, Lamar Peters passed to Weatherspoon just past the midcourt and the 3-pointer bounced once on top of the rim before going in.

Officials reviewed the shot and ruled it went in just in time, sending Mississippi State to the quarterfinals where it awaits the winner of Sunday night's Louisville-Middle Tennessee game.

Tyson Carter led the Bulldogs with 19 points and Xavian Stapleton added all 15 of his points in the first half. Weatherspoon contributed 13 along with Aric Holman, while Peters scored nine points handed out 10 assists.

Terry Maston tied a career high with 26 points for Baylor. He scored 20 points after halftime and made 13 of 19 shots.

Jo Lual-Acuil added 17 points while Lecomte contributed 15 as the Bears (19-15) ended their first season under 20 wins in seven seasons. Baylor also saw a 49-game home winning streak against unranked non-conference opponents snapped

Mississippi State took a 40-20 lead on a 3-pointer by Carter with 4:22 left and two free throws by Lecomte cut the deficit to 47-33 by halftime.

A basket by Maston cut it to 48-41 with 6:55 left but the Bulldogs scored the next seven points to push the lead to 14 on a dunk by Holman. Baylor responded with a 17-2 run over the final four-plus minutes and took a 58-57 lead into the fourth when Lual-Acuil converted a putback dunk with three seconds left

The run continued early into the fourth with Baylor taking a 62-57 lead on a basket by Maston in the opening minute. A 3-pointer by Carter with 7:53 ended a drought of nearly eight minutes for Mississippi State and another hoop by Carter at the 6:46 mark cut the lead to 64-62.

Baylor responded by scoring the next seven points and then Mississippi State tied the game at 75-75 on a 3-pointer by Carter with 40 seconds left, setting it up for the dramatic final possessions.

--Field Level Media