CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was a close game until Donovan Dent’s trips to the free throw line.

And because of that, 10th-seeded New Mexico advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating No. 7 Marquette 75-66 in the first round at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Friday.

“Terrific win for our program. We’ve got a lot of respect for Marquette. Shaka (Smart) does an amazing job. I just thought at the end of the game, we buckled down and got stops,” said New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino. “We stopped turning the ball over. Donny really, really — he was struggling a little bit, and we just tried to keep him positive, and he made some huge plays down the stretch. Tru was phenomenal. Mustapha had some big rebounds. It was just a team effort all around. Very grateful, very proud. We’ll get a little rest and get back at it tomorrow.”

The Lobos crawled out to a 7-4 lead and never trailed until there was 13:51 to play in the second half. From there it was either a tie game, or a 1-2 point difference.

Despite Marquette scoring 10 points in less than 4 minutes, New Mexico held onto its lead and went to halftime 35-32.

That was, until Dent made 5 of 6 free throws in the second half, and Tru Washington and Mustapha Amzil made free throws with less than a minute to play, allowing the Lobos to keep their lead until the clock ran out.

“I’ve got to play hard regardless, specifically in March.” Amzil told said. ”We lose, we’re going home. I’m not trying to go home. We came here to win games. I’ve got to play hard for us to win here.”

Dent led the Lobos with 21 points, including 7 of 8 from the line. Nelly Junior Joseph added 19 points.

New Mexico led for 33:04 and the game featured 10 lead changes.

The Lobos, a 68% free throw shooting team this season, made 18 of 21 (85.7%) from the line on Friday.

“I thought they won the battle of poise,” said Marquette head coach Shaka Smart. ”They were the more poised team over the majority of the game."

This year’s tournament marks New Mexico’s 17th NCAA appearance. Last March, the Lobos fell to Clemson, 77-56, in the first round.

New Mexico will match up against the winner of Michigan State and Bryant in the second round on Sunday.