Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Tech's Deron Washington, 13, and Malcolm Delaney, 23, react to a last minute tunover during the Virginia Tech – Mississippi NIT quarter final basketball game.

MATT GENTRY | The Roanoke Times

Tech coach Seth Greenberg looks away as a player shoots a foul shot in the final minute of the game.

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Kenny Williams, 50, of Ole Miss dunks the ball in front of Deron Washington, 13, of Virginia Tech with 29 seconds left in the game.

BLACKSBURG -- Last December, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team won the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

The Hokies won't be returning there next week in quest of another tournament crown.

Second-seeded Mississippi dominated on the boards and beat top-seeded Virginia Tech 81-72 in the NIT quarterfinals Wednesday.

The Rebels (24-10) whooped it up in their locker room after earning a trip to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. But Tech's season is over.

"That hurts pretty bad," said Deron Washington, who had 23 points in his final Tech game.

The Hokies (21-14), who never led in the second half, were outrebounded 46-23. The only other team to outrebound Tech by more than 20 rebounds this season was North Carolina, which outrebounded Tech by 30 in Chapel Hill.

"I'm really, really disappointed, obviously, with the way we played," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We just couldn't get a 50-50 ball. We didn't have a presence defensively. Their size, their maturity up front ... knocked the crap out of us. ... They were tougher than us."

Fifth-year senior Dwayne Curtis, a 6-foot-8, 262-pound center, had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Kenny Williams (6-8, 240) had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"Those guys are real big," Washington said. "They pretty much out-toughed us. ... We weren't hustling as hard, and they just seemed like they wanted it more.

"They're really strong, so it made it even tougher for us to just come out and try to push them out of there and get the rebound. ... They were physical from the jump and they were just pushing guys around."

The Rebels entered the game averaging of 5.6 rebounds more than their opponents.

"The SEC is a big-boy league, and we led that league in rebounding margin," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "We've got big ole tight ends in there.

"They're very talented, but they have an inexperienced front line. ... [Curtis] is about 36, 37. We've got veteran guys who have to use their girth, and I thought we did a good job of throwing our bodies around."

Rebounding had also been a Tech strong suit this season; the Hokies entered the game outrebounding foes by an average of 4.9 rebounds. Tech was outrebounded for only the seventh time this season.

Tech lost for just the third time in its final 10 games. The only other team to outrebound Tech in that span was UNC in the ACC Tournament. Wednesday was also just the second time in that span that Tech allowed more than 70 points.

The Rebels snared 16 offensive rebounds and feasted upon second-chance points.

"We just continuously attacked them," said Curtis, who was 6-of-7 from the field in the second half. "We had a lot of plays that went to me, and I just tried to post up as hard as I can."

After shooting 35.5 percent in the first half, Ole Miss shot 64.3 percent in the second.

"We take a lot of bad shots, but I would rather get it up on the rim and let those guys do what we do," Kennedy said.

The Rebels finished 8-of-19 from 3-point range. Chris Warren had 22 points and four 3-pointers for Ole Miss. Fellow guard David Huertas had 16 points, seven rebounds and four 3-pointers.

"We were not as in unison guarding the ball screens," Greenberg said.

Tech shot just 39.7 percent from the field against the Rebels' zone defense. A.D. Vassallo had 16 points but was only 6-of-21 from the field.

"We didn't make enough of an effort to get that thing inside," Greenberg said.

Malcolm Delaney (14 points) and J.T. Thompson made back-to-back baskets to tie the score at 46 with 11:56 left, but the Rebels went on a 14-3 run to build a 60-49 cushion with 8:19 to go.

The Hokies jumped to a 12-3 lead, but the Rebels grabbed a 16-15 lead with 12:02 left in the first half. It was the first time Tech had trailed in this tournament since the 11:55 mark in the first half of its first-round win over Morgan State.

Tech concluded its fourth winning season in Greenberg's five years at the helm. It was the Hokies' third postseason appearance under Greenberg.

"I'm very proud of what we were able to accomplish this season," Greenberg said.