For the first time since 2012, the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team won a game in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the next round. This was the Lobos’ second year in a row making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament after falling short against Clemson last year. This year, however, the Lobos went head-to-head against the Marquette University Golden Eagles, beating them 75-66 on Friday, March 21.
Both teams felt each other out in the first few minutes of the game. Then, the Lobos got hot offensively as they started to rack up points.
Marquette did not want to let the Lobos run away with the game; they started to respond to the Lobos’ offensive production with some offense of their own. The game remained like this until halftime. The Lobos went into the break leading Marquette 35-32.
The Lobos shot very efficiently in the first half, going 13-28 (46.4%) from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) from three. Lobo guard CJ Noland was a major contributor to that, as he had three of the Lobos’ 3-pointers, going 3-4 from beyond the arc. Noland finished the half with 9 points, one rebound and one assist off the bench.
Coming out of halftime, both teams started where they left off, going back and forth on the offensive end. There were a few moments throughout the second half where it looked like the Lobos would pull away with the game but their uncharacteristic turnovers kept Marquette in the game.
As the game started to come to a close, the Lobos started to clean up their act, outplaying Marquette down the stretch. This came in the form of clutch rebounds, free throws and big plays. A lot of that was seen through guards Tru Washington and Donovan Dent along with center Nelly Junior Joseph as they all showed up when they needed to.
All of this was too much for Marquette to handle as the Lobos overwhelmed the Golden Eagles. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lobos had punched their ticket to the next round.
Dent, though he had a shaky start, finished the game with 21 points, six assists and three rebounds. Washington finished with 12 points, two assists and three steals, turning into a defensive menace on the court. Junior Joseph added to the great numbers, finishing with a stat line of 19 points and seven rebounds.
The Lobos will get right back to work as they look to play a perfect game of basketball when they take on the Michigan State Spartans Sunday, March 23.
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
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