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Koufos, Ohio State face Mississippi in NIT semifinals

Apr 1, 2008 - 12:19 PM No. 2 Ole Miss (24-10) vs. No. 1 Ohio St (22-13) 9:00 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Ticker) - Freshman Kosta Koufos and Ohio State take on Mississippi in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals on Tuesday.

The Buckeyes (22-13) have won all three of their tournament games by double digits, including a 74-63 victory over Dayton last Wednesday. The average margin of victory for Ohio State is 15.3 points.

Leading the way has been Koufos, who is scoring 17.7 points during the tournament run. The seven-footer had 21 points against the Flyers.

Ohio State has not allowed more than 66 points in each of their last five games, but that defense will be put to the test against Mississippi.

The Rebels (24-10) have scored more than 80 points in each of their last four contests, including an 81-72 victory at Virginia Tech last Wednesday.

Freshman Chris Warren had 22 points and Dwayne Curtis had 17 and 11 rebounds for the Rebels, who had ended the regular season losing eight of their last 14 games.

The runner-up to Florida in last year's NCAA Tournament championship game, Ohio State faces a potential rematch with the Gators in the final here. Florida will play Massachusetts in Tuesday's other semifinal.