BOSTON — Finding a way to beat No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament will require San Diego State finding Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler.

They need to be thorns, poking holes in the game plan of the defending national champion as the Huskies pack the paint like a Manhattan commuter train to slow Aztecs' wrecking ball Jaedon LeDee.

Stop LeDee and you stop San Diego State, the thinking goes. On too many nights this season, that has proved to be an uncomfortable truth.

The pair of guards, however, could be the bracket-busting catalyst they were a season ago on the way to the national championship game.

"I've got the starting backcourt from last year's national championship runner-up," Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said Wednesday at TD Garden. "I have Lamont and Darrion back, and that's a good place to start.

"You know, two guys that have been in big games that have had important moments in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously Darrion, MVP of the (2023) South Regional. Lamont Butler's shot against Florida Atlantic (to win a national semifinal). They've been in these moments.

"They're not going to be afraid of the spotlight. They're not going to be afraid of their moment."

They'll need to put themselves in position for those moments.

LeDee is a basketball given, a double-double in waiting when he wakes up in the morning. Most times, it's about what happens in the Aztecs' galaxy orbiting the 6-9, 240-pound chunk of granite.

When San Diego State last played the tournament's top seed, Alabama, all of 11 months-and-change ago, Trammell busted out for a game-high 21 points. He hit three of his five 3s, scooped up five rebounds and needled the Crimson Tide with a pair of steals.

...continued

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.