San Diego State lost to UConn 76-59 in the National Championship Game, bringing their magical NCAA Tournament run to an end. The Aztecs hung close with the Huskies for the first ten minutes of the first half, trailing by just 4 points with 9:36 to play, but UConn proved why they had been the best team in the tournament, and went on a 30-10 run from the 16:34 mark in the first half. UConn would take a 36-24 lead into half-time, and looked like they would cruise to a championship.
After trailing by double digits for the majority of the game, the Aztecs pulled to within 6 points with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game, thanks to a sequence where Jaedon LeDee made a jumper, UConn's Jordan Hawkins missed a shot, Keshad Johnson made a 3, and Darrion Trammell stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast for a layup, as SDSU went on a 7-0 run in just over a minute of action. With just over 5 minutes to go, Keshad Johnson made two free throws to pull the Aztecs to within 5 points, but that would be as close as they would get. Jordan Hawkins followed those free throws with a dagger 3-pointer, as the Huskies finished the game on a 16-4 run.
All in all, it was the best season in school history, as they won the Mountain West Conference regular season title and the Mountain West Conference Tournament, in addition to reaching the National Championship Game. This season should provide plenty of momentum for the Aztecs to build off of, and will surely make them a very attractive program for a Power-5 conference.
Hear from Brian Dutcher, Matt Bradley, Adam Seiko, Nathan Mensah and Aguek Arop after Monday's National Championship Game:
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