The University of New Mexico‘s quest for its first ever trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament ended on Sunday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland with an 71-63 loss to Michigan State in the South Region.
The game was tied at 51 with under eight minutes left in the game before a 12-3 run by the Spartans put them 63-54.
The No. 10 seed Lobos, who won the Mountain West Conference regular season title, finish 27-8. The No. 2 seed Spartans improve to 29-6.
Forward Nelly Junior Joseph led the Lobos with 16 points followed by guard Donovan Dent and Mustapha Amzil with 14 points each.
Guard Jaden Akins led Michigan State with 16 points and guard Tre Holloman added 14 points.
New Mexico scored the game’s first seven points and led, 31-29, at the half. New Mexico led by as much as 10. 24-14, and was led by Amzil with 12 points. He made all five of his field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers. Holloman led the Spartans with nine points and Akins followed with eight points.
The Lobos made just one of their last 10 shots to end the first half.
Key team stats
- Michigan State had just nine turnovers and 14 assists.
- The Spartans won the rebounding battle, 31-28.
- The Lobos made just 5 of 10 from the free throw line.
Up next
The Lobos’ season is over and Michigan State advances to meet No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Sweet 16 next Friday, March 28 in Atlanta at 7:09 p.m. ET/6:09 p.m. CT/5:09 p.m. MT.
Felix F. Chavwz can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X
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