LAS VEGAS — San Jose State used another quick start at the Mountain West men’s basketball tournament to put top-seeded New Mexico on its heels, but the eighth-seeded Spartans’ upset bid in the quarterfinal game fell short in a 63-52 at Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday.
SJSU (15-19) opened the tournament barely 24 hours earlier by scoring the first 12 points in a first-round win over Wyoming. Thursday, the Spartans went on an 11-0 run to take a 21-16 lead with 7:29 left in the first half. But New Mexico (26-6), which suffered one of its three conference losses at San Jose State on a buzzer-beater in mid-January, responded with a 16-2 run to end the half with a nine-point advantage.
The Spartans got as close as 46-40 on Josh Uduje’s layup with 8:29 remaining, but the Lobos finally put the 14-point underdogs away with a 13-4 run.
Sadaidriene Hall led the Spartans with 13 points. Robert Vaihola recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Uduje added 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
San Jose State finishes the season with a 15-19 overall record and the most wins (45) over a three-year span since the team won 46 games from 1985-88 while a member of the Big West Conference.
Mountain West player-of-the-year Donavan Dent led the Lobos with 25 points.
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