The San Diego State Aztecs had never reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before. Therefore, if they didn’t know how to act on a stage this big, one supposes they couldn’t be blamed too much. In the end, for all their stumbles and mistakes, the sons of San Diego gathered their composure just enough to make the first Sweet 16 in program history.
Yes, the Aztecs played a very shaky and nerve-addled game, but fortunately for the co-champions of the Mountain West Conference, the Temple Owls quivered and quaked in their boots as well. Two clearly nervous teams played an NCAA Tournament game that was tense and exciting, but not for the best of reasons. While Butler and Pittsburgh produced an epic built on the back of phenomenal shotmaking, San Diego State and Temple remained close because neither side could string together two or three good possessions in a row. As two hungry and hard-working squads battled well, they didn’t supplement their work ethic with good decision making, and that led to an ugly slog through a messy endgame phase plus two gruesome overtime periods.
Here’s the first eye-grabbing stat from this game. San Diego State scored just four points in the last 10:18 of regulation… and didn’t lose. That’s because Temple was able to score only nine points in the final nine minutes of regulation. The Owls did erase a 52-45 deficit in that span of time, but they couldn’t finish off the No. 2 seed in the West Region. That set the tone for what was to come.
In the first overtime, SDSU’s Kawhi Leonard – who played the worst game of his season by far – threw the ball away under his own basket after grabbing a rebound. Temple came up with a steal and score to grab a 61-58 lead with 2:20 left. However, on the next trip down the floor for the Aztecs, Temple stupidly fouled SDSU’s Malcolm Thomas on a layup attempt that the brawny post player was able to finish. Thomas hit the and-one foul shot, tying the score at 61-all following the exchange of gifts from both sides. In the final minute and a half of regulation, Leonard bobbled a rebound out of bounds, giving Temple the chance to take the lead, but the Aztecs snuffed out a horrible Temple possession and got the ball with 35 seconds left. The shot clock was off, giving SDSU the chance to create the last shot, but the Aztecs bizarrely went to Thomas, their fourth-best scoring option, for a 10-foot hook shot that wasn’t particularly close. The teams stumbled their way into overtime number two.
In that second bonus period, San Diego State got beaten down the floor after a made basket, showing a lack of focus in the heat of battle. The Aztecs clearly looked panicky at times, but to their great credit, they played enough defense to get to the finish line first. After that poor display of transition defense – with 2:39 left – SDSU didn’t allow Temple to score another basket. The Owls managed only one more point over the remainder of overtime, and the Aztecs pulled away to earn a date with Connecticut in a highly-anticipated West Regional semifinal next week.
By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer