MARCH MADNESS: San Diego State pip Florida Atlantic at the buzzer to book its ticket to the final

Who knew that a song by Muse blaring from the speakers at NRG Stadium would be the catalyst that one team needed to mount a comeback to send them to the national title game?

Of all the games in this insanity-driven March Madness, the setup for this game proved just how unpredictable this tournament can truly be.

That buildup was not in vain – as the San Diego State Aztecs and the Florida Atlantic Owls went down to the wire and the game ended on a Lamont Butler buzzer-beating shot to send SDSU to the national title game. 

They will face UConn who breezed past Miami in the second semifinal.

All the media stories about ‘low ratings’ and people not caring about this game just needed to be at the game in person. Here sat a crowd of over 73,000 people at an NFL stadium in Houston, Texas – to watch Florida Atlantic and San Diego State play in the Final Four for the first time in both school’s respective histories.

Lamont Butler hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to seal the 72-71 Final Four victory 

Conference USA – a group that hadn’t sent a team to the Final Four since 2008 – saw their Florida Atlantic Owls reach the school’s first ever Final Four. Meanwhile, the San Diego State Aztecs became the first ever representatives from the Mountain West to reach this stage.

FAU opened the scoring thanks to starting redshirt freshman Nick Boyd – who drained a 3-pointer in a venue known for having its size and depth prove tricky for shooters. Redshirt sophomore guard Johnell Davis quickly followed that up with a layup of his own.

SDSU had gone three possessions without a basket until Matt Bradley knocked down a three of his own. He added another over a minute later – proving that he was starting to shake off the cobwebs that had plagued him in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight.

At the under 16:00 media timeout, big man Nathan Mensah hit the layup and drew an And-One, which he hit to put SDSU up nine. Bradley knocked down his third 3-pointer of the night at the 15:14 mark of the first half to twist the knife even further – then stuck another dagger in with a sweet layup to go up 14-7.

FAU’s Alijah Martin broke a four minute scoring drought for the Owls with a layup as Boyd hit a trey to bring the game to a 14-10 scoreline as the game went under 14:00 left in the first.

The game went back and forth just as we approached the halfway mark of the first half. At the under-12 media timeout, the Owls had cut the deficit to just one with a Michael Forrest layup followed by a Boyd 3-pointer – his third of the night – to make it 16-15 Aztecs.

It should be noted how good a team SDSU typically is at avoiding fouls. They didn’t commit their first of the game until 11:09 in the first half. FAU had racked up three at that point. SDSU’s first shooting foul came at the 10:34 mark. That would not be the case as we got further into the game.

It was that shooting foul at 10:34 that helped FAU re-take the lead with two foul shots from Johnell Davis to go up 19-17. Another SDSU shooting foul just before the game had passed 10:00 put two more points on the board for Florida Atlantic.

A jumpshot from Johnell Davis (right) helped Florida Atlantic make a hot start

It hadn’t been since the 11:27 mark that SDSU had scored a point. Lamont Butler broke that drought at the 9:33 mark and followed that up with a quick stepback 3-pointer to go up 22-21.

But FAU stayed in it – as junior transfer guard Jalen Gaffney knocked a shot down from range to go up 26-24. SDSU’s Mensah responded with a layup to tie the game just after the 7:00 mark.

Over the span of about three minutes, Florida Atlantic had gone on a 10-2 run to go up 36-28. Bryan Greenlee’s dagger from range put the Owls back up at the 6:36 mark and Martin extended the lead just before we hit five minutes left. The FAU fans in the crowd made themselves known as an airball from Butler fell short of the rim.

Giancarlo Rosada made it a 10 point lead at the 2:28 mark. San Diego State couldn’t buy themselves a bucket as they went over three minutes without scoring until a jumper from Aguek Arop broke the drought at the 1:19 mark.

But even then, Alijah Martin drove back down the court, hit the basket and drew a foul – but missed the and-one. In the final minute of the half, Keshad Johnson grabbed a three for SDSU, and both teams missed jumpers to go into the half at a 40-33 scoreline for FAU.

Boyd’s fourth deep range shot of the night opened the second half scoring as both teams struggled to hold on to the ball and missed a combined six shots in the first minute-and-a-half.

As both teams continued into the second half, SDSU began to get their scoring touch back – but the Owls kept holding serve each time. By the second half under-16 timeout, FAU kept their lead at nine points.

But in an atypical way, the Aztecs started to get into further foul trouble. An elbow from SDSU’s Micah Parrish on Brandon Weatherspoon led to calls for a technical foul – which the officials gave after review. 

Nicholas Boyd (right) made a three-point bucket to help FAU make a statement early on

Keshad Johnson made a three-point shot to keep the difference single digits before halftime

A sixth foul for the Aztecs came with just under 15 minutes remaining in the second half as Martin was hacked on a 3-point shot. He drained all three free throws to grow the Owls lead to 14 by a scoreline of 54-40.

SDSU again had gone on a lengthy drought. After a Darrion Trammell jumper at the 17:21 mark, the Aztecs didn’t hit another basket until Arop hit a jumper at 14:37.

The FAU half of the building was roaring in their approval. The blue-and-red clad fans from Boca Raton had never been on a stage this big before. It was their time to soak it in and not get blinded by the lights.

And that’s when their drought began.

Aztecs senior guard Matt Bradley was  the game’s leading scorer with 11 points at halftime 

The Owls had gone to the foul line plenty of times to go up 56-42, but they couldn’t hit a shot from the field. They had gone the first half shooting over 50% from the field, but they stood at only 27% up until the 12:00 mark. By the time the second half had ended, FAU would have only hit a third of their shots for that half.

SDSU saw their opening and dug in their nails to stay in the game. At the under 12:00 media timeout, they had come back to make it a 58-51 contest. From the time Arop hit his aforementioned jumper, the Aztecs went on a 9-4 run to just keep themselves in it.

During that timeout, the arena speakers began blaring the song ‘Uprising’ by Muse – a rallying cry the Aztecs use at their home games at Viejas Arena. SDSU fans became deafening as they screamed the final lines of the chorus: ‘We will be victorious’. The pep band that traveled with the team played the acapella version of the song as well and again the Aztecs faithful made their voices known.

San Diego State’s deficit was trimmed to two at the 9:05 mark as Bradley hit both his free throws to clock 19 points on the night. 60-58. We had a ballgame.

Alijah Martin caught a perfect feed to bring home a jam at 8:52. Both teams missed chances as Jaedon LeDee put away a bucket to bring it back to a two-point game. Martin responded with a deep shot at 7:44 to go up five.

Darrion Trammell (right) brings the ball up court against Bryan Greenlee (left) 

Aztecs cheerleaders root for San Diego State in the first half of the Final Four matchup 

But SDSU just couldn’t stop fouling. FAU was in the bonus at the 13:53 mark of the second and hit the double-bonus at 6:03 after Mensah picked up his fourth foul, his team’s tenth.

The Aztecs kept it close – but were still a ways away from taking the lead. At 5:00 it was a 65-62 game. Attempts to tie it were futile. The Aztecs couldn’t score after they got the offensive rebound on a missed free throw. Bradley’s 3-point attempts rimmed out.

A controversial foul call put FAU’s Vladislav Goldin in trouble. The big man stayed relatively silent throughout the game – having five points, three rebounds and four fouls by the 4:43 mark of the game. With Arop on the line with two shots, he hit the first but missed the second. Bradley rebounded. Arop caught the feed and swished a perfect jumper. 65-65. Tie game.

The building – which was about 90% occupied, began to fill with nervous energy so powerful it felt like a gust of wind in the closed-roof stadium.

Parrish went to the line and missed both free throws. Goldin turned the ball over, down the court the Aztecs went before they missed a clear layup – but back to the line they went as the clock read 2:05. It was another questionable call. No one on FAU seemed to touch an Aztecs player as Bradley sank only one of his two free throws. 67-66 as we hit the under two minute mark.

Martin picked up his fourth foul on a push that gave the ball back to San Diego State. The Aztecs traveled with the ball, failing once again to get anything done.

Johnell Davis drained both of his free throws to bring the score to 68-66 at the 1:20 mark. The Aztecs broke a FG drought of over three minutes with a Jaedon LeDee shot to bring it to 69-68 with under a minute to go.

Martin came out of the timeout and hit a beautifully acrobatic reverse layup to extend the lead to 71-68. Timeout again. LeDee hit a basket to make it 71-70. Timeout again. FAU brought the ball up the court and called yet another timeout with 17.5 seconds left in the game, 11 seconds on the shot clock, and that one-point lead still remaining.

The Owls head coach Dusty May watches on from the sidelines during the first half 

Nathan Mensah (right) of the San Diego State Aztecs defends against Alijah Martin (left)

Down the court the Owls came. The shot from Davis missed, and the Aztecs grabbed the board. Time ticked down and down the court they went. The ball was placed in the hands of Lamont Butler, he drove down the right wing and tried to cut inside the paint. He was blocked off by Boyd, so he backtracked and put up a jump shot.

The buzzer sounded. Butler laced it. Bedlam.

Despite not leading since the 11:24 mark of the first half, San Diego State had done it. They were off to their first ever national championship.

Indeed, the Aztecs were victorious.

Lamont Butler (right) dribbles the ball against Florida Atlantic’s guard Boyd