Butler delivers stunning shot
Buzzer-beater finishes Aztecs’ comeback from 14-point deficit to end run by 9th-seeded Owls
Who needs bluebloods after what San Diego State and Florida Atlantic provided Saturday night at NRG Stadium?
The first-time Final Four participants delivered a game that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Lamont Butler’s jumper as time expired capped an Aztecs comeback from a double-digit deficit during the second half for a 72-71 victory in the national semifinals.
Butler’s heroics sent the Aztecs (32-6) to Monday’s championship game against Connecticut (30-8). The Huskies beat Miami 72-59 in the second semifinal.
San Diego State will try to become the first West Coast program other than UCLA to win the national championship since 1960, when Cal won it all.
“It’s something I never dreamed of,” said senior guard Matt Bradley, who led San Diego State with 21 points. “This is my last year. There’s no better way to go out than to bring one home for the city.”
Florida Atlantic (36-3), at No. 9, was trying to become the lowest seed to make the championship game since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. That year, No. 8 Villanova stunned defending champion Georgetown in the final and remains the lowest-seeded team to win it all.
Saturday’s matchup, the teams’ first since December 2002 and undoubtedly their most high-stakes encounter, went down to the final minutes with the intensity befitting two first-time Final Four participants.
After stopping Florida Atlantic, San Diego State got the ball back with less than 10 seconds remaining. Butler took the ball upcourt and from the right wing, nailed a pull-up jumper that went through the net as the horn sounded.
“It was about seven seconds after we got the ball, and (coach Brian Dutcher) told me to go downhill, get something at the rim,” Butler said. “They did a good job cutting me off. Once I looked up, it was two seconds left, I knew I had to make a shot.
I got to a shot I’m comfortable with. Went to a pull-up; glad it went in.”
It was the second straight game the Aztecs won in the final seconds. San Diego State beat Creighton in the Elite Eight on Darrian Trammell’s go-ahead free throw with 1.2 seconds left.
Butler’s shot gave San Diego State its only lead of the second half and capped a dramatic final few minutes.
Giancarlo Rosado’s turnaround jumper in the paint with 4:04 left put Florida Atlantic ahead 67-65 after the Owls had gone three-plus minutes without scoring.
The Aztecs twice went to the line with less than two minutes left, but Micah Parrish missed two free throws and Bradley made one of two with 2:05 left.
Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis made both of his free throws with 1:20 left for a 69-66 lead but Kinkaid graduate Jaedon LeDee’s jumper in the lane with 1:05 left got San Diego State within one.
Alijah Martin’s reverse layup with 45.9 seconds left restored the Owls’ three-point lead, but LeDee’s foul-line jumper with 36.2 remaining again got the Aztecs within a point at 71-70.
Davis missed a driving layup in the final 10 seconds, giving the Aztecs their final shot.
San Diego State, appeared to be on the ropes early in the second half, facing its largest deficit of the game at 14 points.
San Diego State chipped away andBradley’s two free throws ended a 7-0 run to trim the Owls’ lead to 60-58 with 9:05 left.
Martin, who had a game-high 26 points, had an emphatic response to that run, soaring for a one-handed dunk. After an Aztecs bucket, Martin sank a 3pointer for a 65-60 lead with 7:44 left.
But the Owls failed to score for the next 3 minutes and 20 seconds, allowing the Aztecs to tie the score at 65 on Aguek Arop’s baseline jumper with 4:24 to go.