They say that defense wins championships. Well, that was clearly the case in the South Regional as Mountain West Champion San Diego State held on for a nail-biting, thrilling, crazy 57-56 victory to advance to the Final 4 for the first time in school history.
With 13 minutes, Creighton had a 41-34 lead. And even though the game was being played at the physical, defensive pace that San Diego State wanted, it was Bluejays’ big man Ryan Kalkbrenner who was dominating the game at this point with a dunk and free throw off the foul. But San Diego State kept coming back and with a little under 7 minutes, Darrion Trammell hit a jumper to give the Aztecs a 46-45 lead.
With the game tied at 4 minutes, the Aztec’s Aguek Arop made a jumper and a layup on their next two possessions, giving San Diego State a 4 point lead. But Creighton came back down to their big man on their next two possessions, and Kalkbrenner came up with two big layups (including a pretty one off a nice lob pass) to tie the game at 54 with just about 2 minutes to play.
Sometimes in March, it is the unexpected that come up big. With about 1:40, Nathan Mensah set up a pick and roll for Adam Seiko, and Seiko passed it right back to Mensah at the elbow of the free throw line. And then everyone probably was surprised when Mensah decided to take the shot. Mensah is known for his amazing defense and his blocked shots, but not really for his outside shooting. And maybe even more surprising, Nathan Mensah drilled that shot to give the Aztecs a 2 point lead.
Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard drove to the basket for a layup, and Mensah doesn’t get a hand on it, but certainly effected the shot as Creighton missed. San Diego State then tried to run the clock down, and settled for a three pointer by Darrion Trammell which also missed. With 40 second, Trey Alexander made a nice move to the lane, put up a shot and the ball hit the rim multiple times before falling into Mensah’s hands. But as he tries to get the ball to a guard, it gets stolen by Creighton but since they were so close to the end-line, Creighton’s player ended up throwing it out of bounds trying to save it before he fell out.
As the announcers talk about fouling strategy (since Creighton only had 5 fouls) with 34 seconds and it being a 2 point game, one of the wildest things happened. San Diego State couldn’t get the ball in so they called time out. When they came back to the court, they decided to try to lob the ball in to one of their big men. But Adam Seiko lobbed it too high, Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman steals the ball in the lane, and makes the layup to tie the game at 56.
With about 7 seconds left, Trammell started his drive to the basket to be fouled by Trey Alexander. With a foul to give, he decided it was better to stop the drive than let Trammell get loose in the lane. So, San Diego State has to inbound the ball again. They struggle to find someone but finally get the ball into Arop, he almost travels before passing the ball to Trammell, and then realizing the play the coach had called was broken, desperately dribbles to the lane to put up a last second jumper from the elbow of the lane. And as the clock struck 0, the shot missed to the side, Trammell fell to the ground, and the whistle blew. Ryan Nembhard had his left arm on Trammell and pushed him as he shot.
Afterwards, there was a debate with the announcers on whether a ref should make that call at that point in the game. And while I think the refs had let both teams be physical with their hands throughout the game, I think you have to call that. The defender clearly pushed the shooter and that clearly effected the shot as it missed to the side he was pushed. We could debate about whether or not you call that when you are letting the players manhandle each other throughout the game – but that is a different debate for a different day.
They put 1.2 seconds back on the clock, and Trammell goes to the line. And then misses the first free throw. And somehow, composed himself, and knowing that the entire season was on the line, hits nothing but net to give the Aztecs a 57-56 lead.
Creighton had one more last chance as they throw a baseball pass down the court, Amok goes up with one of the Creighton players and tips it out of bounds. The officials go back to review it, and they rule that even though the clock looked like it had 0.3 seconds when the ball hit the ground, they decided the clock didn’t start right when it touches Amok’s hands, and that the full 1.2 seconds should have run off the clock. The game is over and the Aztecs are heading to the Final Four.
And thanks to how the bracket has unfolded, we will have the #5 seeded Mountain West champions playing the #9 seeded Conference USA champions. No matter what, we will have one of the non-power conference teams playing for the National Championship on Monday. It has been truly a wild tournament – maybe this will be the season that a non-power conference team ends up cutting down the nets.
Congratulations to San Diego State on a thrilling 57-56 victory to claim the South Regional.