Lobos Advance with 75-66 Win over Marquette in NCAA First Round
CLEVELAND – The New Mexico men’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 75-66 victory over Marquette on Friday night at Rocket Arena. The Lobos (27-7) used a late 10-0 run to take control of the game and defeat the Golden Eagles (23-11) and record their first tournament win in 13 years.
Donovan Dent led the Lobos with 21 points and six assists, while Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points. Tru Washington scored 12 points, while CJ Noland added 11 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos took a 7-3 lead over the game’s opening four minutes of play and the lead grew to 14-6 with 14:15 left. New Mexico led 19-15 at the midway point of the half while a 6-0 Marquette run cut the margin to 19-18 with 9:00 left. A 7-0 Lobo run gave them a 26-18 lead with 6:00 to play, but Marquette would trim the margin to 28-25 with 2:45 left. UNM held a 35-27 lead in the final minute before taking a 35-32 lead into the break. Noland had nine first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half, the Lobos continued to lead over the first few minutes, holding a 43-40 advantage after the first four minutes. The Golden Eagles retook the lead, 47-46, with 13:40 remaining to play and held a 51-48 lead with 12:25 to go. Five straight points by the Lobos gave them a 53-51 lead at the midway point of the half. The teams traded the lead for several minutes, with the Marquette holding a 58-57 edge with 6:30 left. A 10-0 UNM run gave the Lobos a 67-58 lead with 3:10 left and UNM led 70-61 with 1:20 to go. New Mexico would close out the nine-point win at the foul line.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2012, when the Lobos defeated Long Beach State 75-68 in the first round in Portland, Ore.
• It was the Lobos’ second-largest margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament, trailing only the 79-62 first round win over Butler in 1998 in Lexington, Ky.
• New Mexico earned its 27th win of the season, tied for fifth most in program history
• UNM earned its first ever win over a Big East team in the NCAA Tournament (previously 0-5)
• Dent had his seventh straight 20-point/5-assist game, the longest such streak in the nation in over two years
• Dent (701 points) became the fourth Lobo to score 700 points in a season, joining Kenny Page (784 in 1979-80), Ruben Douglas (783 in 2002-03) and Hunter Greene (740 in 1986-87)
• Joseph (378 rebounds) moved into second on the Lobo single-season rebound list and is 10 rebounds behind Drew Gordon’s school record 388 rebounds in 2011-12
• Washington became the eighth Lobo to have 70 steals in a season
QUOTABLE
“Terrific win for our program. We’ve got a lot of respect for Marquette. Shaka does an amazing job. I just thought at the end of the game, we buckled down and got stops. We stopped turning the ball over. Donny really, really — he was struggling a little bit, and we just tried to keep him positive, and he made some huge plays down the stretch. Tru was phenomenal. Mustapha had some big rebounds. It was just a team effort all around. Very grateful, very proud. We’ll get a little rest and get back at it tomorrow.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will play either Michigan State in the second round on Sunday, looking to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament. Game time at Rocket Arena is 8:40 pm ET (6:40 pm MT) and the game will air on TNT.