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Clemson stuffs doubters in beating New Mexico State

Clemson's Shelton Mitchell shoots while pressured by New Mexico State's Zach Lofton, left, and AJ Harris in the second half during the first round of the NCAA tournament.
(Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)
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For nearly 10 hours on Friday, Viejas Arena was occupied by more than 12,000 fans for the four NCAA Tournament games being played at San Diego State’s home.

It was loud and lively.

Then early in the second half of the final game, some of the crowd began to disperse and empty red seats were plentiful.

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The New Mexico State bandwagon had left the building.

Fancied by more than a few pundits to upset fifth-seeded Clemson, the 12th-seeded Aggies were simply outmuscled and outrun in the Tigers’ 79-68 victory that propelled the Tigers into a matchup Sunday against fourth-seeded Auburn.

Clemson (24-9) won its first tournament game since 2011, while the Aggies (28-6) remained officially winless since 1970 (though they had three wins from 1991-94 erased by NCAA sanctions).

Asked if doubts about Clemson fueled the team, guard Gabe DeVoe said, “Not really. You heard about it a lot, but we just worried about the guys in the locker room.”

The two jarring differences in the game: Clemson scored 14 more points in the paint (42-28) and had 19 points on fast breaks to NMSU’s two.

“We had to be aggressive with the ball and be strong with it,” said Clemson head coach Brad Brownell. “They are a feisty team.”

Shelton Mitchell scored a season-high 23 points for the Tigers and helped put the game away when he recorded seven straight points after the Aggies had drawn within six points late.

DeVoe added 22 points, and Marcquise Reed had 15.

The trio has been the engine for Clemson, especially after it lost its star, Donte Grantham, to a leg injury in January.

“They have had to shoulder the load in a lot of situations,” Brownell said. “They are good guys. They can play.”

NMSU got a strong effort from its leading scorer, Zach Lofton, who had 29 points. But WAC Player of the Year Jemerrio Jones was held to 13 points while grabbing 14 rebounds.

“They shredded us,” said Chris Jans, NMSU’s first-year head coach.

“I think this was the first time this season of our team not rising to the level of play that was required.

“Their guards really hurt us … They were a load. They were hard to handle.”

The Tigers led by double digits for much of the second half and were up as many as 17 points with 11:35 left.

But the Aggies produced a 10-2 run, with Lofton scoring eight points, and cut the margin to six, 68-62, with 5:55 left.

Clemson countered with seven straight points by Mitchell -- a 3-pointer, two free throws and a jumper to get back to a much more comfortable 13-point margin.

NMSU won 28 games for the second straight year. It dominated the league, at 12-2, in the regular season and was barely challenged in the conference tournament. It had the player of the year in Jones.

Clemson, meantime, finished third in the ACC at 11-7, but fought eight league teams that reached the tournament. (Five survived the first round, though top-seeded Virginia was knocked off on Friday.)

The Tigers, who had a decided advantage in size, used that to that in the first half, outscoring the Aggies 22-14 in the paint to take a 44-32 lead into the break. They were 13-0 in transition points.

In the absence of Grantham, DeVoe took on more scoring responsibility, and he’d been No. 2 in points (15.3 per game) over the second half of the season. Against the Aggies, DeVoe scored 12 in the first half, including draining a couple of 3s late in the period.

Reed, Clemson’s leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, only took six shots early and scored seven points.

Elijah Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward averaging 7.9 rebounds, had more than that – nine -- in the first half, and finished with 10 for the game.

Lofton scored a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game, and he had 13 points in the first half. But Jones managed only four shots and six points.

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tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutleonard

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