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 Tuesday, the sixth-seeded St. Joseph’s had achieved what hadn’t been done to No. 1 seed New Mexico in the first two games of the National Invitation Tournament.
St. Joe’s had handed New Mexico its first deficit of the tournament with a 39-37 lead at the break in Albuquerque, N.M. Instead of building off the momentum, though, the Hawks went backward.
New Mexico outscored St. Joe’s by 12 points 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 defense in the paint. 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 by 17-15.
Simpson and Haskins helped the Hawks take control, scoring 16 and 10 points, respectively, in the opening half. Simpson drilled his third three-pointer of the half, sparking a 17-4 run, while Haskins tacked on five points. With two minutes left in the half, the Hawks had a 39-32 lead.
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The Lobos quickly returned to form after a 10-0 run three minutes into the second half, giving them a 47-41 advantage. The Hawks never reclaimed 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, knocking down 32.4% of their shots in the half while the Lobos hit 46% and made 18 foul shots.
New Mexico will take on Tulsa in the NIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis next Thursday. The winners of Wednesday’s Illinois State- Dayton and Nevada-Auburn matchups will play in the other semifinal.