It wasn't pretty, but as it turns out, that was exactly what No. 5 seed San Diego State needed on Sunday to take down No. 6 seed Creighton in the final of the South Regionals to advance to the first Final Four in school history. The Aztecs slowed the pace to a crawl and let their physical defense go to war in what turned out to be an old-fashioned rock fight, winning 57-56 in an upset that hardly felt like an upset at all.
San Diego State overcame an eight-point first-half deficit only to nearly gave it away late with an errant inbounds pass in the final minute to Creighton's Baylor Scheierman, who immediately fielded it for a layup to tie things at 56. But with just 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation, second-half star Darrion Trammell drove to the hoop and drew a foul from Bluejays guard Ryan Nembhard, sealing the win by making a free throw after he missed his first attempt.
Creighton was able to get off one final play in a full-court heave out of bounds but the pass only briefly made contact with players long enough to drain the remaining time on the clock. Officials went to the monitor and reviewed the play and determined the game was over and the remaining time on the clock had elapsed.
"The officials reviewed the timing of the final play of the San Diego State-Creighton game and determined the clock did not start when it was initially touched on the inbounds pass," the NCAA said in a statement after the game. "The crew used the embedded clock within the DVSport replay system and it was ruled the clock hit zero before the ball touched out of bounds, thus ending the game."
"March is for players, and we've got really good players," SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said on CBS after the game. "March is about players having their one shining moment. We're very fortunate to be advancing."
Trammell finished with 12 points including five points, three rebounds and an assist in the second half as he changed the complexion of the game with his playmaking and attacking. He missed nine of his 14 shot attempts in the game, but his aggressive mentality all game -- especially on what wound up being the penultimate play of the game -- served SDSU's otherwise sluggish offense well.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
SDSU's amazing path to Final Four
There are no shortcuts on the road to the Final Four and San Diego State certainly did not take any. In consecutive games it defeated No. 1 overall seed Alabama and No. 6 seed Creighton, respectively, the winner of the SEC and a preseason top-10 team, to punch its first-ever Final Four ticket.
Now things get interesting and seemingly open up. SDSU will meet No. 9 seed FAU in the Final Four, the second-ever Final Four matchup between non-major conference opponents since Butler and VCU met in 2011.
Creighton gives foul late
With the game tied at 56 and San Diego State in possession, Creighton opted to use its foul to give with 6.7 seconds remaining on the clock and 4.3 seconds on the shot clock rather than playing out the string, possibly costing it a chance at a last-second shot. The foul turned the shot clock off and effectively gave SDSU the luxury of running the clock down to almost zero to take a last-second shot, which strategically worked against Creighton.
"They had their play set up. They were going into a high ball screen situation," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "I just felt with six seconds left, we knew what they had from a side out of bounds standpoint. Had there been four seconds or more, I probably wouldn't have done it. But it's coaching. Sometimes what you decide to do is right, sometimes what you decide to do is wrong."
Controversy ends otherwise amazing game
Two controversial fouls ended what was otherwise a near-perfect matchup between two great teams, both of which came in the final two seconds of regulation. First, the foul call on Ryan Nembhard as Darrion Trammell attacked the hoop with 1.2 seconds left, and finally, the reviewed last-second call that officials determined would effectively end the game and that no time would be added.
"You win with class, you lose with class, so that's what we're going to do," McDermott said. "All the credit goes to San Diego State. It's on us that we didn't quite get it done. Not anyone else."
