Junior guard Shelton Mitchell contributed 23 points and five assists to help fifth-seeded Clemson slide past No. 12 New Mexico State 79-68 on Friday in NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Play at Viejas Arena in San Diego.

Senior guard Gabe DeVoe scored 22 points as the Tigers (24-9) won for just the fourth time in their past nine games. Junior guard Marcquise Reed added 15 points and three steals while junior forward Elijah Thomas collected 10 rebounds for Clemson.

Senior guard Zach Lofton scored 29 points for the Aggies (28-6). Senior forward Jemerrio Jones recorded 13 points and 14 rebounds for New Mexico State, which had a six-game winning streak halted.

Clemson will face fourth-seeded Auburn in a battle of Tigers in Sunday's second round. Auburn defeated College of Charleston 62-58 earlier Friday.

Clemson shot 55.9 percent from the field while holding New Mexico State to 38.7 percent.

"I'm just proud of our kids," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said in a postgame interview on truTv. "I've got a great group of young men that give me everything they have. They've been unbelievably coachable."

The Tigers led by 12 at halftime and the lead grew to 54-36 on six straight points by Mitchell. He buried a 3-pointer with 17:28 left and converted a 3-point play 32 seconds later.

New Mexico State pulled with 56-43 before DeVoe answered with consecutive layups to push the lead back to 17 with 11:35 left.

The Aggies made another dash as junior guard Keyon Jones made three 3-pointers during a 2 1/2-minute sequence to help cut the margin to 12. A short time later, Lofton scored eight points during a 10-2 surge as New Mexico State moved within 68-62 with 5:55 remaining.

The Aggies then went three minutes, 40 seconds without a point while Mitchell took over. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 5:29 left to halt New Mexico State's momentum, hit two free throws with 3:49 to play and drove through the lane for a layup to make it a 13-point margin with 2:33 to go.

Clemson shot 58.1 percent from the field in the first half while taking a 44-32 lead into the break. DeVoe scored 12 and Mitchell added 10.

The contest was tied at 15 before Mitchell capped a 10-2 burst with a jumper to give the Tigers an eight-point lead with 7:07 left. DeVoe drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 with 5:32 to play.

DeVoe knocked down another 3-pointer with 56 seconds left to account for the 12-point halftime advantage.

--Field Level Media