Houston, TX – The end of the men’s college basketball season is almost here and the beginning of the end started Saturday night in Houston for the 2023 Final Four semifinal games.
There weren’t any “sexy” teams this season. No blue bloods and this is the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament history, the Final Four won’t have a top 3 seed present and there are even 3 teams that are making their first Final Four appearance in school history. There aren’t even any “sexy” players with only one guy in the Final Four being a projected first round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
None of that matters thought because all four teams are worthy of being National Champion.
The night started off with Florida Atlantic Owls vs. San Diego State Aztecs and it was set to be a pretty good FAU offense vs a pretty good SDSU defense. The game started with the SDSU defense shining and making FAU take a lot of tough shots but once the Owls settled in their elite shot making went on full display to gain control of the game.
The Owls would get pretty much whatever they wanted on the offensive end in the first half while also playing very good defense. They kept the Aztecs off the offensive glass which has proven to hurt their offense.
That continued into the second half. SDSU couldn’t get any easy looks and FAU took full advantage on the other end.
Then SDSU remembered who they were and started playing Aztec basketball. They increased their physicality and stay on the offensive glass which allowed them to come back from a 14 point deficit. What looked like it was going to be a blowout for FAU turned into a very good and exciting game down the stretch and it was going to come down to which team could hit the most tough shots.
That was San Diego St.’s Lamont Butler who hit a shot as time expired to send the Aztecs to their 1st National Championship appearance in school history. The Owls had a decent look to go up 3 but it didn’t fall and instead of calling a timeout, head coach Brian Dutcher elected to just let his guys decide the outcome and it worked out.
The Aztecs were led by Matt Bradley who had 21 points and 6 rebounds while Jaedon Ledee led SDSU off the bench with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
SDSU will take on the winner of Miami and UConn Monday night to try and win their first National Championship in school history.
