The most bewildering of college basketball seasons has now come down to Monday night and one of the most unexpected national championship game matchups in recent memory.
On one side of the court, you have the newcomers to the grand stage, a gritty San Diego State squad hoping to become the first 5-seed to capture the title and cap off a historic run of success for the Mountain West’s best program for much of the past decade. On the other side, you have a Huskies team in the midst of one of the most dominant tournament runs ever – just the sixth team since 1985 to win all five games by double-figures – and have not lost to anybody outside the Big East all season.
Catch up with the top highlights and in-game analysis from Bryan Fischer.
No. 5 San Diego State vs. No. 4 UConn:
>>> HALFTIME ANALYSIS: UConn 36, San Diego State 24
It is a minor miracle that San Diego State hits the locker room for the halftime break down only 12, with UConn coach Dan Hurley telling the broadcast they should be up 20 and not 36-24. He’s not wrong given that the Huskies’ late three minute scoring drought seemed to give the Aztecs a glimmer of hope that they could chip away at this thing despite such a dreadful effort from the field.
That first 20 minutes was all about the team that has been dominating the tournament and look to continue to do so tonight in Houston. UConn shot 50% from the field and forced more turnovers (nine) than their opponent had made field goals (eight). Tristen Newton surprisingly led the team in scoring with nine points, but this was an extremely balanced effort from the Huskies in sharing the ball, with eight players scoring and big man Adama Sanogo well on his way to another double-double with seven points and six boards.
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The biggest halftime adjustment SDSU will have to make is how to deal with UConn’s size in the interior (where they were +10 in points in the paint). Every time an Aztec player found himself near the basket, it was like a panic ensued as they tried to immediately kick out to guys who weren’t open on the perimeter. Head coach Brian Dutcher has to be hammering home that his group has to put that shooting effort (29%) out of their head and just get back to fundamentals while making stops. They’ve been in this position before in this tournament and at least have experience in trying to fight down the stretch.
Either way, buckle up for the unexpected from both sides because that’s what this tournament has been about in the second half of games. As sad as it might be to some (looking at you, John Fanta), we’re 20 minutes away from cutting down the nets, watching One Shining Moment and crowning a national champion.
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>>> FIRST-HALF UPDATES
0:37 – San Diego State scored the last four points of the first half, its last bucket coming from Darrion Trammell. The Aztecs trailed 36-24 at halftime.
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2:55 — It is shocking the lead isn’t greater than 16 for UConn given the way the Huskies are forcing missed shots from SDSU, which went 11:08 without scoring from the field. Everyone knew the Aztecs can struggle at times on offense, but that was historically bad as they made just 2-of-18 after starting the game off with three baskets on their first four shots. What is worse for Brian Dutcher’s crew is how their defense has not been able to bail them out at all with UConn shooting 63% and dominating in the paint with 16 points. We had a blowout in the CFP title game, a bit of one in the women’s basketball tourney, and we’re certainly trending that way again tonight in Houston.
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3:20 – Joey Calcaterra sunk a 3-pointer after receiving a between-the-legs pass from Andre Jackson Jr., putting the Huskies up 36-20.
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5:06: – Tristen Newton built some separation for the Huskies near the end of the first half when he went on a 7-0 run by himself.
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6:34 – UConn turned a San Diego State turnover into points when Jordan Hawkins drained a 3-pointer on the other end of the floor.
08:50 – Is it danger time for the Aztecs? San Diego State has made just one of its last 12 shots and have gone nearly 7:42 without scoring from the floor. It’s almost enough to give you some Butler 2010 vibes with how hard they’re trying to come up with answers offensively. UConn, however, has its largest lead of the night and have navigated Donovan Clingan’s second foul by simply playing their best player this tourney — Adama Sanogo — some more.
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8:52 – Jordan Hawkins got a bucket off the dribble, adding to UConn’s 14-2 run and forcing San Diego State to take a timeout. The Huskies later made it a 16-2 run before the third TV timeout.
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11:00 – SDSU wanted to test that interior defense from UConn with its low post game and that … has not worked out well. The Aztecs have gone 5:32 without scoring and haven’t been close on any of their last eight missed attempts. That has allowed the Huskies to go on an 8-0 run to re-take the lead as the stellar defense we saw earlier in the tournament has begun to show up for both sides.
Also of note: Neither team has attempted a free throw up to this point. I’m not sure why coaches don’t make it a point of emphasis guards going downhill and driving to the basket to see if they get a foul call amid all these long scoring droughts.
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11:28 – UConn flipped the script before the second TV timeout, going on an 8-0 run to take the lead. Joey Calcaterra hooked up with Donovan Clingan on the alley-oop to give the Huskies a 14-10 lead.
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15:47 – Whew, what a frantic first few minutes that didn’t provide a hint of evidence that either side had any nerves for the biggest game of their careers. There was so much talk about UConn’s dominance coming into tonight — they trailed for just 47 seconds combined in their past three games — but San Diego State has put the pressure on by taking the early lead with plenty of balanced looks from Lamont Butler’s 3-pointer to Keshad Johnson’s jumper. While it’s been a nice start on the offensive of the ball for San Diego State, Brian Dutcher would probably like a bit tighter defense as the two teams have combined for eight field goals by eight different players going into the under-16 timeout. The pace favors the Huskies, but the MWC champs have gotten off to a nice start.
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16:32 – San Diego State led 10-6 at the first TV timeout. It got buckets from four different players, the last one coming from Matt Bradley.
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19:15 – The Aztecs answered right back as Lamont Butler, the hero of the team’s Final Four win over Florida Atlantic, drilled a 3-pointer to give San Diego State an early 3-2 lead.
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19:36 – UConn’s Jordan Hawkins scored the first points of the game, hitting a pull-up jumper on the opening possession.
>>> PREGAME SCENE
The Hurley name
FOX Sports’ Andy Katz spoke to UConn head coach Dan Hurley about what winning a national championship would mean to him and his family.
Keys to the game
FOX Sports college basketball reporter John Fanta offers up his three keys to the game ahead of tip-off.
All about the culture
FOX Sports’ Andy Katz sits down with San Diego State coach head Brian Dutcher to speak about the culture in the program and how he put this team together.
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