SDSU Aztecs advance to NCAA Championship finals, fans react
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - The San Diego State Men's team's historic season continues after Lamont Butler hit a jumper, sending the Aztecs to the national championship game on Monday.
San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls 72-71 on a buzzer-beater Saturday, continuing their history-making run and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Championship game Monday night in Houston.
A back-and-forth game went down to the final shot. After Matt Bradley led the team with 21 points, Lamont Butler pulled off the win, hitting a midrange jumper as time expired, giving them the one-point win. San Diego State had to overcome a 14-point second-half deficit that grew from a 7-point deficit.
FAU led by 3 with under a minute to go before SDSU's Jaedon LeDee hit a shot to cut the Owl's lead to one point, 71-70, with 36 seconds remaining.
"Just get down hill"
After FAU missed a shot, the Aztecs chose not to call a timeout and instead played for the final shot. Lamont Butler worked the clock almost down before launching the game-winner. Time expired before the ball went through the hoop, and the celebration began.
“The plan was just to get downhill," Butler said. "They cut me off a little bit. I looked up; there were two seconds left, so I got to a shot I was comfortable with. And I hit it.”
After being the first Mountain West Conference basketball team to advance to the Elite 8 and the Final Four, the Aztecs will be the first team to play for the championship.
The Aztecs' next game will be the title game, airing on Channel 13 Monday, against the winner of the second game on Saturday, taking on the four-seed UConn Huskies.
