NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Villanova needs some time in finishing school.
After trapping and pressing with relentless fury in the first half, Villanova fell apart in the second, needing free throws from Kyle Lowry, Mike Nardi and Allan Ray down the stretch to escape with a 55-47 victory over New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.
"We waited a little too late to respond appropriately," said New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay, whose team rallied from 24 down. "Maybe if we had five more minutes."
Instead, the 12th-seeded Lobos (26-7) are going home while fifth-seeded Villanova (23-7) is moving on to face Florida in the Syracuse Regional on Sunday. But the Wildcats know they got away with one against the Lobos.
The Wildcats blew a 24-point first-half lead, making just three field goals in the second half and committing 12 of their 20 turnovers. They shot less than 71 percent from the line, and Ray and Curtis Sumpter combined to go 2-for-22.
"The best thing we can say is survive and advance," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.
The victory was the 11th in the last 13 games for Villanova. New Mexico had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Villanova's first-half defense was so stingy it looked as if another Kansas-like rout was in the making. Nardi was darting here and there, forcing turnover after turnover and making a general nuisance of himself. Anytime the Lobos got near the basket, Sumpter and Will Sheridan swatted their shots away.
New Mexico is one of the nation's better offensive teams, but Villanova held the Lobos to just 11 points in the first half and 18 percent shooting. Mark Walters, Alfred Neale and Troy DeVries, all of whom average in double figures, were scoreless.
"They're running and trapping," Walters said. "I don't think we were ready for it."
Despite falling behind 34-11 at halftime, the Lobos wouldn't give up. They started attacking Villanova's press and stopped rushing their shots.
Slowly, Villanova's lead started shrinking.
"In the second half, we showed some heart and played how we usually play," Neale said. "In the first half, we were so tight and so tensed up about being here."
After Randy Foye's free throws gave Villanova a 42-23 lead with 8:45 left, Walters scored on a layup to spark a 10-0 run that pulled New Mexico within double figures for the first time since midway through the first half. DeVries capped the spurt with a layup, his first points of the game.
The Lobos got their outside shot going in the second half, too, and Neale's 3-pointer with 3:48 left got New Mexico within 44-36.
"We were doing the same thing in the second half that we were doing in the first half," Sheridan said. "It just happened that they were hitting shots."
Lowry made two pairs of free throws and then came up with a clutch steal, seeming to seal the game. But Nardi and Sumpter both missed a pair of free throws, prompting one fan to yell, "You don't deserve to go to the second round!"
Walters then made a jumper, paring Villanova's lead to 52-47 with 29 seconds left. But a long jumper by Walters missed its mark, and Nardi made a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to put the game away.
"We just thought about we're not making shots, so we have to play tough defense and get stops," Foye said. "We knew if we got stops, the game would fall back in our arms at the end. They were wasting so much energy on offense and defense trying to get shots off we knew they would tire out."
Danny Granger led New Mexico with 15 points and Walters had 14 -- all in the second half.
"We kept battling up that hill," Granger said. "We just couldn't get up it in time."
