New Mexico jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the first half and never looked back, cruising to a 75-57 victory over BC in the 5th place game of the 76 Classic. The Lobos enjoyed leads of 19, 22 and 15 and led from start to finish.
The Eagles gave up way too many open looks and were outrebounded badly in the first half. New Mexico shot a blistering 56.9 percent from the field in this one, a product of a lot of open looks and uncontested layups. BC picked up the intensity on defense in the second half, but at that point it was too little, too late.
Junior Matt Humphrey and freshman Lonnie Jackson lead the way for the Eagles, each scoring 12 points, though Humphrey had an off night from the field, connecting on just 3-18 field goal attempts. He seemed to force a lot of shots and nothing was falling for the junior transfer. Ryan Anderson also went cold from the field, shooting just 2-11, though he did come down with a team-leading seven rebounds. Gabe Moton finished with 10 points on 4-6 shooting.
Credit the Eagles for hanging in this one, with the Eagles making a 10-0 run in the second half to cut the Lobos lead to eight, 62-54. It never really felt like Boston College was in this one, but the team continued to play hard down the stretch to keep the game within reach.
Boston College next turns it attention to Penn State as they host the Nittany Lions in this year's Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Penn State is 5-2 on the year with wins over Hartford, Radford, Long Island, South Florida and Youngstown State. However, the Nittany Lions are coming off a 65-47 loss at St. Joseph's on Saturday.
This should be a good test for this young Eagles team as they look to maintain the program's perfect 5-0 record in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.