6/5/2023 0 Comments San diego state basketballThe San Diego State University Aztecs play at Viejas Arena, which opened in 1996 as the Cox Arena and currently seats 12,414 for basketball. The problem is, it’s against UConn.San Diego, California, is home to one of the premiere basketball programs in the Mountain West Conference. “A lot of us have been in life circumstances where you could think we were down and out. “That’s the kind of guys we have,” forward Aguek Arop said. Such as the way they went after the offensive rebounds in the second half when the day seemed to be slipping away from them. There is something undeniably steely about the way the Aztecs won’t budge. Mid-major? What mid-major? “This is the proof in the pudding,” Keshad Johnson said. But the doubters must be getting scarce, given the way they’ve been winning their games. 5 seed from the Mountain West, and neither of those descriptions ever described a national champion. We’re doing this for our families, we’re doing this for ourselves, we’re doing it for the respect we deserve.” “We can’t lose sight of what we’re trying to do. “When we’re at each other’s weddings and when we’re done with all this, were going to come back and remember that moment.” “This is something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives,” Trammell said. So San Diego State has another finish to treasure, and the Aztecs understand that. We had our fun when we did that (against) Memphis.” Nick Boyd, who beat Memphis in the final seconds in the first round, told how “I was in shock when the buzzer went off. “The hardest part is, there’s no next,” coach Dusty May said. How Butler, down to the last handful of seconds, tried to get to the rim but was cut off by the Florida Atlantic defense - “I knew I would get a shot, but I thought it would be a layup” - and how just before the clock expired and the Aztecs with it, he pulled up and took the shot of his life. On two distant sides of the continent, they have very different reasons to remember what came next. “I was in the gym all my life,” he would say later. The once-in-a-lifetime chance to play Monday night would be decided by what decision Butler made, what shot Butler took. “He told me to go downhill, get something at the rim.” It was a lot to put on one junior guard. Just put the ball and the season in the hands of someone he trusted.Ģ023 MARCH MADNESS: Men's NCAA tournament schedule, scores, how to watch “He said no, we’re going to get a stop, we’re going to push it and we’re going to win the game.”ĭutcher would later admit he had run out of plays to call, so no reason to call a timeout after a Florida Atlantic miss. Senior Matt Bradley remembers Dutcher’s answer this way: And then what, his players wondered? Get the rebound, call a timeout, plan the last-ditch play as a trip to the championship game teetered on the edge, and NRG Stadium was going bananas right up to about the fifth deck? They must have a defensive stand, of course. Brian Dutcher looked at his team and explained the situation. The Aztecs had rallied from 14 points down with a frantic effort, such as getting 10 offensive rebounds in just over two minutes.īut more was needed. Florida Atlantic ahead 71-70 but getting to the end of the shot clock. Here we are in the San Diego State huddle, 17 seconds left. UCONN WINS: How the Huskies outran Miami (FL) to reach the national championshipīut before that reality is faced, how’d the Aztecs earn it Saturday? UConn led Miami (FL) by 20 points and won by 13, pretty much like all its other NCAA tournament games. They’ll have to earn it against a locomotive of a team Monday night. “You have to believe that, but we can’t expect it to be given to us at the same time. It was Lamont Butler and his pull-up jumper at the buzzer that put a stake through the heart of Florida Atlantic 72-71. He’s the guy who hit the free throw against Creighton, but now a week later, a teammate did the trick even later. “I think we’re meant for it,” guard Darrion Trammell was saying Saturday, sitting at his locker after a splendid Final Four game with a wondrous ending. SDSU WINS: How the Aztecs surpassed Florida Atlantic in the Final FourĪnd here, left standing, the San Diego State Aztecs who will not lose, not even in places they’ve never been before. Six days after that, another epic finish on an even grander stage a buzzer-beater that goes directly to the annual Final Four highlight reel, not to mention a likely spot in One Shining Moment Monday night. Two days later, a free throw with 1.2 seconds left to get to a first-ever Final Four. One moment, they’re storming back against the highest-ranked team in the tournament, sweeping past the favorite and its loud and large crowd. A team of upstarts with a seed that is not imposing and from a conference that is not blue starts the time-honored march of surviving and advancing, and suddenly they can’t be stopped.
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