Bryant Stith scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half Friday and Virginia hit 23 of 25 free throws to defeat New Mexico 76-71 in a National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal game.
The Cavaliers (18-13) broke from a 32-32 halftime tie to take a 46-38 lead on Stith's three-point play with 14:49 remaining.New Mexico (20-13) closed the gap to two when Willie Banks hit two free throws with 8:18 remaining.
But Virginia pulled away again as Stith scored six points in an 8-1 run to make the score 64-55 with 6:12 remaining. The Lobos could get no closer than five the rest of the way.
New Mexico started slowly. The Lobos scored four points in the first five minutes but only trailed 8-4. They rallied to take the lead, 13-10, on a 3-pointer by Ike Williams with 12:59 remaining and did not trail the rest of the half.
Junior Burrough had 18 points for the Cavaliers and Ted Jeffries added 12.
Steve Logan had 18 points for the Lobos. Banks scored 14 points and Khari Jaxon scored 12.