College Basketball

For San Diego State, 6 seconds changed everything in Final Four thriller

Updated Apr. 1, 2023 11:28 p.m. ET

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

HOUSTON — Back in November, San Diego State could taste it.

The Aztecs led then No. 9 Arkansas by four with 15 seconds left, on the cusp of a top-10 victory to take back home with them from the Maui Invitational. What ensued was a 180-degree turn. Lamont Butler committed a bad foul and a turnover over the course of six seconds. The Razorbacks forced overtime in improbable fashion and went on to beat the Aztecs 78-74. From a signature win to a gut punch — but also, a reminder of the thin margin for error against the elite.

"I can't just let six seconds define who I am," Butler said following that loss.

[Final Four highlights: San Diego State stuns FAU at the buzzer]

Turns out that quote is wrong. It turns out that six seconds will define him in NCAA Tournament lore forever, because he hit one of the great shots in Final Four history on Saturday, a buzzer-beating jumper to push San Diego State past Florida Atlantic, 72-71, to book a ticket to Monday night's national championship game.

"This is unbelievable. It's what I came here to do," Butler, the third-year Aztec, said following the win. "The plan was just to get downhill. They cut me off a little bit. I looked up and there were two seconds left, so I got to a shot I'm comfortable with, and I hit it. I'm happy."

The six seconds? That was the difference between the shot clock and the game clock when FAU had the basketball with 36 ticks remaining, holding a 71-70 lead. On a night in which Alijah Martin was rolling with 26 points for FAU, Dutcher chose to play it out and rely on his fourth-ranked KenPom defense to get a stop against an Owls team that has executed time and again in crunch time in this NCAA Tournament.

But the Aztecs did get the stop, and despite having one timeout, they played on.

"They are fearless," Dutcher said of his team. "I ran out of plays, so I decided not to take a timeout. I said, ‘if we get the rebound, let's get downhill and send all three bigs to the rim. Lamont (Butler) made the play. I'm proud of him."

Dutcher's confidence in his team, which extended its winning streak in games decided by five points or less to 10 straight, was shown more confidently in the final Aztecs huddle than the 63-year-old is letting on.

"He said, ‘No, we're not calling a timeout. We're going to get a stop, we're going to push it and we're going to win this game," said Matt Bradley, who had 21 points to lead the Aztecs. "That's what Dutch said and that's what we did. That's what our team is about."

According to FOX Sports Research, the buzzer-beater was the first in Final Four history in which the team that hit the shot was trailing at the time. It also marked the second straight NCAA Tournament game at NRG Stadium that ended with a buzzer-beater, with the last one being Kris Jenkins' shot for Villanova in 2016.

Not only did the victory come in dramatic fashion, but it came with one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history. Rallying from 14 down in the second half, the Aztecs completed the third-largest rally of all time in the national semifinal round.

"To realize something has come to an end, it was devastating," Martin said.

"I was in shock when the buzzer went off," Nick Boyd said. "But, I mean, it's the game of basketball. We had our fun when we did that at Memphis. And it just didn't go our way this night. Like I said, we got the whole team coming back. Owls ain't going nowhere."

The Aztecs clawed back from a 54-40 deficit behind Bradley and Micah Parrish, who hit triples and led an 18-6 run to cut the edge to 60-58 with 9:05 to play.

After a rough first half, senior Jaedon LeDee found his shot at a time when the Aztecs absolutely needed it, scoring nine of his 12 points in the final nine minutes. LeDee's ability to hit tough 2s from 12-15 feet out proved to be massive down the stretch, as he hit a contested shot with 36 seconds left to cut the Owls' lead to 71-70.

You can't tell the story of the game without Bradley, who really kept the Aztecs in the game with a breakout performance after shooting 3-for-17 in his two games prior. The senior, who had not hit a triple in three games, knocked down four from downtown and finished with 21 points.

But the story of the game was Butler, who is no stranger to clutch moments for the Aztecs. In fact, he booked a Mountain West regular season championship with a cold-blooded 3 at The Pit to beat New Mexico back in February.

Sure, this was another level on Saturday night inside a 72,000-seat football stadium in the Final Four, but you would not have known it. Dutcher's team, sitting at 108-22 in the last four years, put to bed any inkling of disrespect remaining.

"This is something I never dreamed of," said Bradley, the San Bernadino product who transferred into SDSU for his final two years of college basketball after three years at Cal. "This is my last year. There's no better way to go out than to bring one home for the city. Let's keep it going. Let's go San Diego."

The year of the Aztec rolls on, and San Diego State University is 40 minutes away from a national championship.

Six seconds changed it all.

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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