St. Joe’s can’t build on promising first half, falls at New Mexico in NIT to end season
The Hawks led by as many as seven points in the first half but ran out of gas after halftime.
After 20 minutes on Tuesday, the No. 6-seeded St. Joseph’s had achieved what hadn’t been done to No. 1 seed New Mexico in the last two games of in the National Invitation Tournament.
St. Joe’s had handed New Mexico its first deficit of the tournament with a two-point halftime lead, 39-37. Instead of building off the momentum, the Hawks went backward.
New Mexico outscored St. Joe’s by 12 in the first eight minutes of the second half and never looked back in an 84-69 win that ended St. Joe’s season in the NIT quarterfinals.
Statistical leaders
Guard Derek Simpson led the Hawks (24-12) with 26 points, including a career-high six three-pointers. Guard Dasear Haskins contributed 14 points. St. Joe’s was outrebounded 40-33 and committed 20 fouls to the Lobos’ 11, with Justice Ajogbor and Austin Williford fouling out.
Forward Tomislav Buljan scored 27 points for the Lobos (26-10) and guard Jake Hall added 24 points.
What we saw
New Mexico entered the game having won its previous NIT matchups with Sam Houston and George Washington by 24 and 25 points, respectively. The Lobos attempted to put St. Joe’s in the same position, knocking down three of their first four shots for a 7-3 lead. They later connected on four straight shots for a 15-9 lead after four minutes.
St. Joe’s was limited by New Mexico’s paint defense. The first three Hawks buckets came from shots taken beyond the arc. They eventually got their shots to fall and were on the Lobos’ heels by the 13-minute mark, trailing 17-15.
Simpson and Haskins helped the Hawks take control with their 16 and 10 points coming in the opening half. Simpson drilled his third three-pointer of the half, sparking a 17-4 run, where Haskins tacked on five points. With two minutes left in the half, the Hawks had a 39-32 lead.
» READ MORE: Steve Donahue thought he’d never be a head coach again. Then he won Atlantic 10 coach of the year.
The Lobos quickly returned to form after a 10-0 run three minutes into the second half, giving them a 47-41 lead. The Hawks would never reclaim the lead.
Simpson, playing in his final collegiate game, lost his shooting touch with just two buckets in the second half. The Hawks’ offense went cold as a unit, knocking down 32.4% of their shots while the Lobos hit 46% and made 18 foul shots.
Williford ended the run with a three but St. Joe’s didn’t make another field goal for three minutes. New Mexico built the lead to 66-51 with eight minutes remaining in the game. The Hawks crawled back within eight points, 72-64, after a Haskins layup at the 4:07 mark, but got no closer.
New Mexico will take on Tulsa in the NIT semifinal from Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis next Thursday. The winners of Wednesday’s Illinois State vs. Dayton and Nevada vs. Auburn matchups will make up the other semifinal.