Sports

/

ArcaMax

A bandwagoner's guide to the San Diego State basketball team

Carlos Rico, The San Diego Union-Tribune on

Published in Basketball

SAN DIEGO — There are 363 Division I men’s college basketball teams, and San Diego State is one of the four still dancing through the NCAA Tournament.

For the first time in program history, the Aztecs have reached the Final Four.

The team will play Florida Atlantic University in the tournament’s first semifinal game in Houston on Saturday at 3:09 p.m. PDT. The winner of that game will face the winner of the next game between University of Miami and University of Connecticut in the national championship on April 3.

If you haven’t been following the team all season, no worries. Here is an Aztecs guide to help you get to know the coach, key players, style of play and more.

Final Four run

San Diego State is the first Mountain West Conference school to win its region in the NCAA Tournament and advance to the Final Four.

 

In their opening game on March 16, the Aztecs’ physicality and defense carried them to a 63-57 win over Charleston College. This was also the first tournament win for head coach Brian Dutcher since taking over the program in 2017.

Two days later, the team took out Furman University — its best offensive game so far in the tournament — with a 75-52 victory. Four Aztecs players scored in double figures: Micah Parrish with 16 points, Darrion Trammell with 13, Lamont Butler with 12 and Matt Bradley with 10.

In the second weekend of the tournament, the Aztecs defeated University of Alabama, the No. 1 overall seed, 71-64 on March 24. They made program history in many ways after this win, including this: It was the first time SDSU beat a higher seeded team in the NCAA Tournament.

On March 26, San Diego State edged out Creighton University, 57-56. “The team from the Mesa” — since the campus is located on what’s known as Montezuma Mesa — got a little revenge after Creighton knocked out the Aztecs in the tournament’s first round last season. The winning basket came via senior guard Darrion Trammell’s free throw with 1.2 seconds left.

...continued

swipe to next page

©2023 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus