The men’s Final Four field consisted of three teams looking to earn their first national title, while the fourth was looking to claim its second national title in the city of Houston. None of the four teams were widely expected to make it to the Final Four, and all of the teams earned their way to the big stage through different paths.
In the first game of the Final Four, #5 San Diego State faced #9 Florida Atlantic. A quick 5-0 run by Florida Atlantic was immediately answered by a 14-0 push by San Diego State. Then, FAU would respond with seven unanswered points, but after seven minutes of play SDSU held a 14-12 lead.
The next ten minutes of the game would be competitive on both ends, as both teams refused to let the game slip away. With just under two and half minutes remaining in the first half, Florida Atlantic was able to take a 10 point lead. On their last possession of the first half, San Diego State hit a three point jump shot to cut the lead to seven before halftime.
San Diego State did not go away without a fight. Matt Bradley went to the free throw line for SDSU with nine minutes and five seconds remaining in the game, hit two free throws and cut Florida Atlantic’s lead to just two points.
The next four minutes would be an offensive struggle for both teams. From 9:05 to 4:45, the only two baskets were scored by FAU. With 4:43 left in the game Florida Atlantic held a slim 65-63 lead following another San Diego State free throw.
With 10 seconds remaining, Florida Atlantic missed a jump shot. San Diego State rebounded the shot and raced down the court. No timeout was called. Lamont Butler dribbled deep to the right corner along the baseline, brought the ball up the court and rose for a mid range jump shot. Butler’s shot went through the net as the buzzer sounded, sending San Diego State to the National Championship game with a 72-71 comeback win in a game that won’t soon be forgotten.
After watching the amazing finish to the previous game, #4 UConn and #5 Miami warmed up and got ready to play. UConn came into the game having won every tournament game by at least 15 points, while Miami came in after a 13 point second half comeback in their Elite Eight game.
UConn dominated the first few minutes of play. In the previous games, UConn had put pressure on the defense by scoring inside, often with Adama Sanogo. But to open this game, UConn connected on three of their first four three-point attempts. Two of those makes came from Sanogo as Miami gave him space to shoot.
Miami wasn’t about to let UConn dominate the entire game. While struggling offensively, Miami turned up the defensive pressure and began forcing turnovers that allowed for easy scoring opportunities. With just under nine minutes to go in the first half, Miami tied the game.
From that moment on, the Huskies would assert their dominance again. The game was tied at the 8:23 mark, but the Hurricanes would not score again until three minutes and 42 seconds remained. The halftime score 37-24 favored UConn.
In contrast to his outside shooting in the first, Sanogo came out and scored two easy layups to begin the second half. Those four quick points pushed the UConn lead to 17. Miami again would look to mount a comeback, and with just under 12 minutes remaining UConn’s lead was cut to eight by an Isaiah Wong three.
UConn immediately responded, this time with seven unanswered points to get the lead back up to 15. The last TV timeout came with 3:57 left in the game with UConn leading by 12. Over the last few minutes, UConn drove the ball to the paint and capitalized on the easy opportunities.
UConn won the game by the 13 points they led by at the half. A fifth double-digit win in a row gave them the opportunity to square off against San Diego State for the national championship. The Huskies won their last national championship title in the 2011 Final Four – also held in Houston.
The final game of the season got off to a hot start. In the first four minutes of play, SDSU and UConn each connected on four of their first five shot attempts. San Diego State had a 10-8 lead at that point, thanks to two threes.
After those first four minutes, San Diego State went ice cold. The team did not make another shot until 5:36 left to play in the first half. During that time, UConn went on an 18-5 run.
The Huskies’ defense played a factor in the Aztec’s inability to score. Over the first 22 offensive possessions for San Diego State, the team made just four shots compared to six turnovers.
A three by UConn pushed the lead to 16 with 3:15 remaining in the half. Despite being unable to make many shots in the first half, San Diego State immediately answered with a three of its own, followed by a steal. Looking to gain some momentum going into halftime, San Diego State raced to the basket and put up a routine layup that rolled around the rim and missed. UConn came back down the court and hit another three to lead by a score of 36-20.
San Diego State did not go away quietly, and the team was able to compete on the boards with a bigger UConn team. Nonetheless, the Huskies took a favorable 12-point lead heading into halftime, with the scoreboard reading 36-24.
The first eight minutes of the second half were relatively even. UConn stretched the lead to 14 at one point. San Diego State, looking to make another improbable comeback, narrowed its deficit to 10 for about a minute of action.
With 8:33 remaining in the game, UConn called a timeout despite holding an 11-point advantage as San Diego State began to capture some momentum. The timeout did not help, and UConn failed to score on their next two offensive possessions and gave up five straight points to San Diego State.
A few minutes later, SDSU cut the lead to five after sinking a pair of free throws. UConn responded by burying a three at the other end to go up by eight.
Nearly two minutes went off the clock before San Diego State scored again. After that basket, San Diego State took a timeout, still determined to make a comeback, even though they trailed 69-57 with less than two minutes to play.
The crowd roared as the game leaned toward the Huskies. The defense for UConn was dominant all night long, refusing to allow easy baskets.
When the clock hit zero, UConn had claimed a 76-59 victory over San Diego State, winning the team’s first National Championship since 2011.
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