WACO, Texas (AP) — It took 5.1 seconds and one very friendly bounce off the rim for Mississippi State to flip its lasting memory of this postseason.

Quinndary Weatherspoon’s 3-pointer at the buzzer took a high bounce off the front of the rim and then down through the net to give Mississippi State a 78-77 victory over Baylor in the second round of the NIT on Sunday.

Weatherspoon’s game-winner came after Baylor had grabbed a two-point lead with 5.1 seconds left on a floater by Manu Lecomte. The Bulldogs, who were out of timeouts, pushed the ball up the floor and Weatherspoon let his shot fly from the top of the arc.

“I credit Lamar Peters for driving and creating space for me on the kick out. That created a good look and I shot it with confidence and it fell,” said Weatherspoon, who finished with 13 points and five assists. “I thought that I shot it too hard. Commentators said they have soft rims, so I’m glad they do.”

Mississippi State (24-11) will now go on the road Tuesday to play either Middle Tennessee or Louisville in the NIT quarterfinals. The winner of Tuesday’s game will advance to the tournament’s final four at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“It is great because we haven’t had a postseason win since 2010,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. “In the past, with other teams, the NIT has really propelled teams into the next year in the NCAA Tournament. We want to finish this season as NIT champs. Happy for our players and our program.”

Weatherspoon’s 3-pointer capped a wild game with plenty of momentum swings on both sides. Mississippi State led by as many as 20 points in the first half, and by 14 at halftime, but gave all of that back by the end of the third quarter. A dunk by Jo Lual-Acuil, Jr. just before the buzzer gave Baylor a 58-57 lead heading into the final period.

“I think we didn’t give up. We knew a lot was at stake. We were playing for our season. We have worked so hard this season to fight back from how we performed in conference. It really propelled us to go out and get this game and to prolong the season,” said Baylor senior Terry Maston, who had 26 points and seven rebounds.

The Bears (19-15) extended their lead to as many as nine points, at 71-62, on a 3-pointer by Nuni Omot with 4:40 remaining. Then Mississippi State started its own remarkable comeback.

Aric Holman scored seven points during a 10-2 MSU run that cut it to 73-72 with 1:03 to play. After Maston hit a jumper for Baylor, Tyson Carter drilled a 3 for Mississippi State to tie it at 75 with 34.8 seconds left.

“We have been in situations like that before, so we never give up and always try to give us a chance to win,” said Carter, who hit five 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points.

On Baylor’s ensuing possession, Lecomte worked the clock down, drove the lane and made a contested floater off the glass with 5.1 remaining.

“It is a play just to give me space to get a layup or kick it out. The big stayed in so I shot a floater,” said Lecomte, who had 15 points and seven assists.

Weatherspoon then inbounded it for the Bulldogs and Lamar Peters found him trailing the play for a 3. The shot hit the front of the rim, bounced about two feet straight in the air, and then cleanly through the net to spark a celebration on MSU’s end of the floor.

“I don’t think I have ever seen a shot go straight up and straight down before, but unfortunately that’s what happened,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

Mississippi State went 13-for-22 from 3-point range in the game, and shot 53.8 percent overall from the field. It had made a total of 11 3-pointers in its previous two games.

“The biggest reason was shot selection. When we take good shots, we are a great three-point shooting team,” Howland said. “Against LSU, we were great, making 13 in the first half. I give a lot of credit to Lamar (Peters) because that means he is distributing the ball really well. We are becoming a good passing team and that helps a lot.”