UNM revs up in the second half and rolls past George Washington in the NIT
Maybe it doesn't entirely rinse the taste of those 1993 chili cheese fries out of the mouths of UNM Lobo fans, but it'll do. UNM hit 11 3-pointers and scored 15 second-chance points, beating George Washington at its own game on the offensive boards and pulling away down the stretch for an 86-61 victory in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday night in the Pit. The announced 9,207 fans in attendance were more than happy to see the Lobos punch their ticket to the final eight of the NIT, even if the stakes aren't exactly the same as UNM’s infamous 1993 NCAA Tournament loss to George Washington after star Lobos came down with food poisoning due to eating bad chili cheese fries in Tucson.
This year’s UNM (25-10) squad will play another home game, Tuesday against the winner of Saint Joseph's and California, in the third round of the NIT. The NIT final four and championship will be held on April 2 and 5 in Indianapolis. After leading by four (36-32) at halftime against George Washington, the Lobos opened the second half with a 10-0 run, powered by three straight Jake Hall 3-pointers to push the lead to 46-32 with 16:28 left in the game.
While the Revolutionaries never gave in, by any stretch, that initial kill shot in the second half seemed to shift the game from a tight back-and-forth battle to one of the visitors becoming more and more desperate as the minutes clicked off the clock. UNM led by as many as 19 in the second half (67-48), but it hovered around 10 to 12 points much of the final 10 minutes of the game. Hall, a freshman, led the Lobos with 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the arc.
Fellow first-year players Uriah Tenette and Tomislav Buljan scored 15 and 14 points, respectively. Senior Deyton Albury did not play due to the flu. Christian Jones scored 16 points to lead GW.
UNM outrebounded the Revolutionaries 45-36 and also claimed 15-12 advantage on the offensive glass. This story will be updated.