Albuquerque, N.M. — Ruben Douglas scored 25 points and Marlon Parmer led a second-half rally by New Mexico in an 81-78 victory over Pepperdine in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday night.
New Mexico (21-12) will play Memphis in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Pepperdine (22-9) led 49-37 at halftime and appeared to be in good shape with a 69-59 lead with 8:11 left. But the Lobos went on a 14-2 run with Parmer scoring eight of the points.
Parmer, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half, hit a three-pointer to tie it at 71. He then stripped the ball from Pepperdine's Brandon Armstrong and scored on a layup for a 73-71 lead with 3:43 left.
The lead changed hands twice before Parmer hit a pair of free throws with 1:04 left to put the Lobos up for good at 76-75.
Armstrong, unstoppable most of the night and the Waves' leading scorer with 27 points, missed a 12-footer from the baseline. Douglas hit one of two free throws with 37.2 seconds left and after Pepperdine's Kelvin Gibbs missed a turnaround jumper in the lane, Douglas again was fouled and hit two free throws with 20.6 seconds left.
Armstrong missed on a 22-foot three-pointer, and that set up a one-handed slam by Wayland White with just over two seconds left. David Lalazarian hit a shot from near midcourt for Pepperdine's final points.
Memphis 90, UTEP 65
Memphis, Tenn. Marcus Moody scored 17 points and Kelly Wise added 16 for Memphis. Five players scored in double figures for Memphis (19-14), which opened the second half with a 19-2 run for a 30-point lead, and UTEP (23-9) never threatened again. Besides Moody and Wise, Scooter McFadgon scored 13, while Shyrone Chatman added 12 and 10 assists. Earl Barron also had a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Purdue 79, Auburn 61
West Lafayette, Ind. Maynard Lewis scored 16 points and Purdue made eight three-pointers against Auburn. Rodney Smith added with 15 points, and Kenny Lowe 12 for the Boilermakers (17-14), who will play Alabama later this week. Kyle Davis led Auburn (18-14) with 19 points and nine rebounds. After shooting 12-of-20 from three-point range, including 7-of-8 by Lewis, in an opening-round win against Illinois State, Purdue made seven in the second half to open up a 27-point lead. They finished 8-of-20.
Alabama 79, Toledo 69
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Rod Grizzard had 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead Alabama. The Crimson Tide (23-10), an NIT semifinalist in 1996, will play Purdue later this week for a return trip to New York City. Toledo (22-11), which had won its last three games when trailing at the half, cut a 20-point deficit to 66-56 with 6:55 lead as Nick Moore hit a pair of three-pointers and Greg Stempin scored on an alley-oop from Rory Jones.
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