Warrick Powers Syracuse

Syracuse and Mississippi State struggled in the first half. Hakim Warrick made sure Syracuse had a much better final 20 minutes.

Warrick scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, and the fifth-ranked Orange beat No. 12 Mississippi State, 71-58, Thursday night in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at New York.

“We got him the ball. We made a conscious effort to get him the ball,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said of the difference in Warrick in the two halves. “We showed patience and got much better shots.”

Syracuse (3-0) will play No. 24 Memphis tonight in the championship game at Madison Square Garden.

Syracuse and Mississippi State (2-1) were tied, 25-25, at halftime. Syracuse had the better shooting half, making 29.4% to Mississippi State’s 26.5%. The Orange made one of eight three-point attempts. The Bulldogs were one for nine.

The matchup of preseason All-Americans was even too, and not very good. Warrick had four points on two-for-five shooting in the first half, and Lawrence Roberts of the Bulldogs, playing for the first time this season, had two points and missed all five of his first-half shots.

Warrick, a 6-foot-8 senior, had six points in Syracuse’s 11-0 run to open the second half, and the Orange kept a lead the rest of the way.

“I think once we all got going it was really us,” Warrick said. “That’s what got me going.”

Gerry McNamara missed his first six three-point shots but made two around a dunk by Warrick on his alley-oop pass to give the Orange a 56-43 lead with 9 minutes 18 seconds to play.

Warrick had 10 rebounds, and McNamara finished with nine points and seven assists for the Orange, which was 21 for 31 from the field in the second half (67.7%).

No. 2 Wake Forest 81, Virginia Commonwealth 67 -- Chris Paul scored 16 points despite taking only three shots from the field to lead the Demon Deacons to victory in the Preseason NIT at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Paul made 14 of 15 free throws and had five assists for Wake Forest, which heads to New York to play Providence in the semifinals Wednesday.

Dwight Brewington made all five of his three-point shots and scored a career-high 21 points in Providence’s 89-52 win over Pennsylvania at Providence, R.I.

No. 10 Arizona 83, Wright State 66 -- Salim Stoudamire scored 24 points, making six of nine three-point shots, to lead the Wildcats to a victory in the Preseason NIT at Tucson.

Arizona (2-0) will play Michigan in the semifinals.

No. 19 North Carolina State 71, Elon 45 -- Julius Hodge scored 21 points on his 21st birthday to lead the Wolfpack at Raleigh, N.C., in the semifinals of the BCA Invitational.

N.C. State (2-0) advanced to the final, where it will play East Carolina, a 64-62 winner over Oregon State in the other semifinal.

No. 24 Memphis 81, Saint Mary’s 66 -- Rodney Carney scored a career-high 33 points, and the Tigers ended the surprising tournament run by the Gaels in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at New York.

Saint Mary’s, which beat California in the quarterfinals, was led by Daniel Kickert, who scored 24 points and had nine rebounds.