National Basketball Association
New Mexico 68, San Diego St. 59
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 10, 2012
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# David Hall, # Verne Harris, # Randy McCall
Attendance:
12168
By SportsDirect Inc.
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 59: Tony Snell and Kendall Williams each had a team-high 14 points as the Lobos defeated the No. 21 Aztecs in the Mountain West Conference tournament final.
Drew Gordon finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the second-seeded Lobos (27-6), who won the conference tournament for the first time since 2005 and the third time overall.
New Mexico, which enters the NCAA tournament on a five-game winning streak, led by as many as 14 points in the first half before settling for a 34-23 halftime lead. The Lobos extended their advantage to 46-30 on Williams’ dunk with 13:03 remaining.
Top-seeded San Diego State (26-7) cut the deficit to 62-57 with 1:21 left after a pair of Xavier Thames free throws, but New Mexico made 6 of 10 free throws down the stretch.
The Aztecs saw their eight-game MWC tournament winning streak come to an end after shooting 37.1 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
Chase Tapley finished with a game-high 25 points and Jamaal Franklin added 16 points and 10 rebounds for San Diego State, which lost for only the second time in 10 games at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Aztecs, who reached the MWC finals for the fourth straight time, had won the previous two conference tournaments.
GAME NOTEBOOK: San Diego State fell to 4-2 and New Mexico improved to 2-1 all-time in the MWC finals. … The No. 2 seed in the conference tournament improved to 6-0 in the championship game. … The Lobos have won 12 of their last 14 games. … Eight of the Aztecs’ 15 turnovers came in the second half. … Hugh Greenwood had 10 rebounds for New Mexico.
Top Game Performances
New Mexico |
|
San Diego St. |
Tony Snell 14 |
Scoring |
Chase Tapley 25 |
Kendall Williams 6 |
Assists |
Xavier Thames 4 |
Drew Gordon 12 |
Rebounds |
Jamaal Franklin 10 |
Kendall Williams 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Jamaal Franklin 3 |
Cameron Bairstow 2 |
Steals |
Xavier Thames 2 |
Drew Gordon 2 |
Blocks |
Garrett Green 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
New Mexico
|
68 |
38.5 |
8-18 |
20-27 |
15 |
35 |
3 |
7 |
11 |
San Diego St.
|
59 |
37.1 |
6-19 |
7-11 |
9 |
36 |
3 |
3 |
15 |