In unpredictable NCAA Tournament, UConn not underestimating ‘tough’ San Diego State

John Fanta

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

HOUSTON – When Ray Allen visited his alma mater this winter, he gave a message that stuck with this year’s Connecticut Huskies. Never could anyone have dreamed that the message would be used as a motto for the national championship game, but that is the case as Monday night’s title showdown between UConn and San Diego State looms (9:20 p.m. ET, CBS). It’s the phrase Connecticut senior Nahiem Alleyne used when asked about the Huskies being the clear favorite to win it all.

“Ray said to us, ‘It’s the will demand, not the skill demand,” Alleyne said. “Who’s going to bring that firepower? I feel like we’re going to bring that. It’s all about the will right now.”

UConn has willed, and demolished all the competition in its sights, becoming the sixth team since tournament expansion in 1985 to enter the national championship game with all five wins coming by double-figures. Winning their games by a combined 103 points, knocking down 50 3-pointers in the tournament, and holding opponents to 35% from the floor and 27% from 3, the Huskies have been a freight train.

But as 32-6 San Diego State, which has won nine straight games and 10 consecutive contests decided by five points or fewer, stands in the Huskies’ way, the mindset for UConn is unchanged. Connecticut has put to bed the idea that there isn’t a clear-cut top squad in college hoops this season with how they’ve overwhelmed teams in the big dance. But as Hurley knows, this NCAA Tournament has seen the unthinkable happen.

“The heavy favorites haven’t fared very well in this one,” Hurley said at his Sunday media availability. “We’re going to try to ignore that tag. I just think it helps us a lot just what we went through in January. We know that if we get away from our identity for a tick, we become very vulnerable. With the experience, the physicality, the age and just how well-coached the San Diego State team is and the teams they’ve beaten to get here, we expect a much different type of game, much more of a fight.”

It’s as if these Huskies have always kept the six losses in eight games in January in the back of their minds, that even when a team like Miami cut their lead down to eight on Saturday night, the thought of falling back into that realm of vulnerability is scary to this team enough that they put the foot on the gas pedal that much harder.

“January, believe it or not, turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to this team,” three-time national champion Jim Calhoun said by phone on Sunday morning when describing the current Huskies. “They were able to regroup, figure out where the holes were and now they’ve got it. I truly believe they’re too much for anybody to handle.”

As for the UConn players, they realize those narratives exist.

“David and Goliath, right? Many people look at it that way,” said Joey Calcaterra, who is familiar with San Diego State and has faced them having transferred to UConn last spring from the University of San Diego. “SDSU has beaten great teams on their path to the national championship. We don’t look at it that way at all. We’re preparing for them like we’ve prepared for everybody. SDSU has established themselves as a powerhouse. I’ve seen it for the last decade or so, that they’ve been a powerhouse in the West Coast.”

“We’ve got to go out there and empty the tanks,” freshman Donovan Clingan said. “We should be exhausted in this locker room after the game, knowing we left it all out there against a physical, tough team. There’s only one kid in the rotation that’s not a senior, which is crazy.”

Yes, the average age of the Aztecs’ rotation is 22.5, so there’s no mistaking how this group has gotten here with back-to-back NCAA Tournament victories, each coming by a single point. While UConn is favored and projected to win, Brian Dutcher would like to think Lamont Butler’s shot and SDSU’s run to the title game has helped put his program on the radar with staying power.

“We have a national perception now,” Dutcher, who’s been the head coach at SDSU for six years after being Steve Fisher’s right-hand man for the previous 18 seasons. “I think everybody out west has always known we’ve been good. But now that we’re playing on the biggest stage, and we’re winning on the biggest stage, I think a lot like Gonzaga made that step, they did it on the national stage. That’s how they gained their respect. And hopefully this national stage will give us national respect. That’s what I think it will do.”

Dutcher did follow when describing Butler’s buzzer-beater on Saturday night: “It all depends on what happens Monday night, how it will be remembered through history.”

History favors the Huskies, who are 4-0 all-time in the national championship game and have won their last three titles in the state of Texas (2014, 2011, 2004).

“We didn’t come here to just win one game,” UConn point guard Tristen Newton said. “We weren’t satisfied with just making the Final Four. Being here isn’t satisfying enough. We want to win the whole thing, and you can’t just show up [against these guys]. We have to stay focused so we can get that win, and what we really want is a national championship.”

Connecticut’s drive for five has 40 minutes remaining.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.

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