NEW YORK — Darris Nichols caught the inbound pass, took a step back and launched a high, arcing shot over Jamont Gordon's outstretched hands.

He couldn't see where the ball was going until it swished through the net as the buzzer sounded, sending his West Virginia teammates into a wild celebration and the Mountaineers into the finals of the National Invitation Tournament.

"He had a hand in my face and then I saw it go in," a beaming Nichols said. "It was a great screen and a great pass."

And a great way to keep his team's season going. Nichols' 3-pointer lifted West Virginia to a 63-62 victory over Mississippi State in the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

"I knew we needed a 3 to win it, so I just stepped back," Nichols said.

West Virginia (26-9) will take on Clemson (25-10) in the finals on Thursday night after the Tigers held off Air Force 68-67.

Nichols finished with 17 points and Frank Young added 16 to help the Mountaineers advance to the NIT finals for the first time since winning the title in 1942. West Virginia had lost its last three appearances in the semifinals, and it appeared headed for another defeat — falling behind by 14 in the second half — until Nichols' clutch shot.

"We said we were not going to take a 2, but we would win the game," Mountaineers coach John Beilein said. "The first option was Darris, and the second would have been Frank. If they guard one, you know we felt good about either one."

With 2.1 seconds left and Mississippi State leading, Bulldogs coach Rick Stansbury was on the court screaming for a timeout before Alex Ruoff inbounded the ball to Nichols, but the coach wasn't seen by the officials. After Nichols' winning shot, Stansbury slammed the table.

Although the Mountaineers were already celebrating, the postgame handshakes were delayed briefly as the officials huddled around the courtside monitor to check if any time remained after Nichols' basket. After about 3 minutes, the officials ruled the 3-pointer good, and no time was left.

Dietric Slater had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Mississippi State (21-14). Gordon added 11 points, and Charles Rhodes had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Clemson had to sweat out its victory over Air Force despite leading by 13 points early in the second half.

After Trevor Booker's dunk at 16:08 gave Clemson a 39-26 lead, Air Force responded with a 25-12 run — capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Tim Anderson and Nick Welch — to tie it at 51 with 6:56 remaining.

"We dug ourselves in a little bit of a hole," Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said.

Clemson was able to get the lead back up to 10 at 65-55 on David Potter's 3-pointer — only his seventh of the season — with 2:12 left.