California’s Patrick Christopher reacts after scoring on a breakaway layup against New Mexico in the first half of Wednesday’s game. Associated Press Photo.

BERKELEY, Calif. — The last thing California’s players wanted to do was go into the offseason with a 22-point loss to UCLA still fresh in their minds.

A little success in the NIT is helping take that sting away.

Jamal Boykin made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left, Ryan Anderson scored 26 points and the Golden Bears held off New Mexico’s late rally for a 68-66 victory in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night.

“We sat down in the film room before we started practice and Coach asked, ‘What does the NIT mean to everybody?’ My response was that I just want to keep playing,” said senior Eric Vierneisel, who dished out a career-high eight assists.

DeVon Hardin added 10 points and six rebounds, Jerome Randle scored 11 and Boykin 10 as Cal (17-15) advanced to face Ohio State (20-13) on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. The Bears, who won the NIT in 1999, made 22 of 31 free throws and shot 48 percent.

“I don’t think guys want to go home now,” coach Ben Braun said. “Guys have gotten over not going to the NCAAs but you’ve got to get over that quick.”

J.R. Giddens had 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Lobos (24-9), whose 24 regular-season victories were a school record. Giddens scored over Patrick Christopher with 51.2 seconds left to tie the game, then Anderson missed two free throws at 36.2. After Boykin made his free throws, Giddens missed from just inside the 3-point line as the final buzzer sounded.

“I felt good. I got him going back, crossed over, got a clean look and it didn’t go,” Giddens said.

Giddens, New Mexico’s leading scorer and rebounder and the co-Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, shot 10-for-20 but also missed two free throws off the front of the rim with 1:41 to play that could have tied the game.

The final play went the way New Mexico wanted: with the ball in Giddens’ hands.

“That was a great look,” said first-year Lobos coach Steve Alford. “J.R.’s been terrific. He’s been fabulous for us all year long and I think he’s going to have a really great pro career. J.R. can play with anybody in the country.”

The Bears, who had lost six of their last seven and finished ninth in the Pac-10, came out energized and pushed the ball at every chance to score easy baskets and get breakaway dunks. But a small crowd of only 1,906 fans came out to see it.

Cal’s chances of reaching the NCAA tournament were spoiled with an 88-66 loss to No. 3 UCLA in the second round of the Pac-10 tournament last Thursday, only five days after the Bears played the Bruins to the final seconds in an 81-80 loss at Pauley Pavilion that ended on Josh Shipp’s controversial over-the-backboard shot. So, playing well on their home floor in Haas Pavilion had to be a nice morale boost.

“Of course it’s nice to be playing right now,” said Anderson, Cal’s leading scorer and rebounder. “We all feel fortunate and happy to play. I think when we were all playing together, when we had that little run, we can play like that and a lot of teams will have a tough time stopping us.”

Hardin is trying to end his up-and-down senior season on a strong note after he returned to school rather than entering last year’s NBA draft. Anderson, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound sophomore and first-team All-Pac-10 choice, is likely to declare himself eligible for the draft without hiring an agent so he can test the waters and gauge how high he might be selected — all while maintaining his college eligibility. He is projected anywhere from the middle to late first round.

Florida 73, San Diego State 49

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Maybe Florida coach Billy Donovan will let his players back in their practice facility now.

Marreese Speights scored 18 points, Nick Calathes added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, and the Gators snapped a four-game losing streak with a 73-49 victory over San Diego State in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Gators (22-11) made the most of their size advantage inside, hit seven 3-pointers and won for the first time in three weeks.

Ryan Amoroso led the Aztecs (20-13) with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Florida lost eight of its previous 11 games and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years. Donovan responded by kicking his players out of the team’s $12 million practice facility and banning them from wearing any Florida attire.

Virginia Tech 94, Morgan State 62

BLACKSBURG, Va. — A.D. Vassallo made 11 of 14 field goal tries and scored 27 points in 25 minutes as sharp-shooting Virginia Tech made easy work of Morgan State.

The Hokies (20-13) showed no letdown after feeling snubbed by the NCAA tournament. They led 40-25 at halftime and shot better than 65 percent for the game.

Morgan State (22-11), guaranteed a spot in the NIT as a regular season conference champion knocked out of its league tournament, trailed 21-18 before the Hokies went on a 19-7 run to close the first half.

Dayton 66, Cleveland State 57

DAYTON, Ohio — Brian Roberts scored 21 points to lead third-seeded Dayton (22-10) to a win over Cleveland State. The Vikings (21-13) had the lead for nearly six minutes in the first half, but surrendered a 15-4 run to the Flyers to end the half.

UAB 80, Virginia Commonwealth 77

RICHMOND, Va. — Reggie Huffman had 21 points, including a game-saving layup with 5.6 seconds left, as UAB (23-10) took a commanding 15-point lead with 6:38 remaining and held off Virginia Commonwealth.

UAB converted just 8 of 14 free throws in the last 66 seconds, and Jamal Shuler’s 3-pointer — a desperate, twisting leaner from the left corner — pulled the CAA regular season champions (24-8) to within 78-77 with 9 seconds left.

On the inbounds play, however, the Rams pressed and Huffman slipped downcourt, where Aaron Johnson hit him with a baseball pass and he went in for an easy layup.

Eric Maynor missed a 3-pointer for the Rams just before the buzzer.

Mississippi 83, Santa Barbara 68

OXFORD, Miss. — Dwayne Curtis had 17 points and 16 rebounds as Mississippi (22-10) beat UC Santa Barbara (23-9).

Nebraska 67, Charlotte 48

LINCOLN, Neb. — Ade Dagunduro scored 15 points to lead Nebraska, and the Cornhuskers (20-12) used tough defense to pull away from Charlotte.

Nebraska led by as much as 26 late in the second half against the Atlantic 10’s 49ers (20-14).

Illinois State 61, Utah State 57

NORMAL, Ill. — Osiris Eldridge scored 14 points and Illinois State (25-9) beat Utah State.

The Redbirds played smothering defense from the opening tip-off, holding Utah State’s high-powered offense, which led the nation with an overall shooting average of 51.5 percent, to only 44 percent from the field. Jaycee Carroll led Utah State with 15 points but shot only 4-for-15.

College BasketballInvitational

Valparaiso 72, Washington 71

SEATTLE — Bryan Bouchie scored 20 points and Brandon McPherson 18 as Valparaiso held on to beat Washington 72-71 Wednesday night in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.

Jon Brockman had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the hometown Huskies but missed two free throws with 4.7 seconds left.

Shawn Huff scored on a drive with 2:45 remaining for the final points as the Crusaders (22-13) won in the first meeting of the two schools.

Washington (16-17) missed seven shots from the field in the final two minutes in the West Region game.

Justin Dentmon scored 11 points for the Huskies and Quincy Pondexter had 10.