Balanced offense leads New Mexico past Marquette

Donovan Dent scored 21 points on Friday night to lead four Lobos in double figures, as 10th-seeded New Mexico pulled a mild upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, eliminating seventh-seeded Marquette 75-66 in a South Region game in Cleveland. Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points and seven rebounds as the Lobos (27-7) advanced to the second round on Sunday, when they'll play No. 2 seed Michigan State, which beat 15th-seeded Bryant 87-62 on Friday. Tru Washington contributed 12 points, and CJ Noland came off the bench to chip in 11. "Terrific win for our program," New Mexico coach Richard Pitino said. "I just thought at the end of the game, we buckled down and got stops. We stopped turning the ball over." David Joplin starred in defeat for the Golden Eagles (23-11), pumping in a game-high 28 points and going 6 of 10 from the 3-point line. Kam Jones added 15 points and five assists, but the duo didn't have enough help as Marquette converted just 24 of 59 shots from the field (40.7 percent) and was outrebounded 36-30. "I thought they (the Lobos) won the battle of poise," said Marquette coach Shaka Smart. "They scored way more around the basket than we did." New Mexico, which owned the advantage for 33:03, took the lead for good on Joseph's layup with 6:17 left that made it 59-58. That started a 10-0 run for the Lobos that Washington capped with a corner jumper at the 3:15 mark for a nine-point lead. Dent added six assists for New Mexico, which hit 47.3 percent from the field. New Mexico got off to the kind of fast start that's often eluded it in recent NCAA appearances, opening up an 11-4 lead at the 14:59 mark of the first half as Dent turned a steal by Noland into a layup. "When we come out and play defense, offense is going to take care of itself," said Washington. The Lobos maintained the lead for the half's remainder, fending off occasional challenges from Marquette. Chase Ross' 3-pointer with 9:41 left drew the Golden Eagles within 19-18 but they went scoreless for 4:07 as New Mexico pushed the advantage to 26-18 on a corner 3-pointer from Filip Borovicanin. Marquette did end the half in fine fashion as Joplin drained a 3-pointer and Jones converted a Stevie Mitchell steal into a layup, pulling it within 35-32 at the break. The Golden Eagles made just 10 of 27 shots in the first half. --Field Level Media