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HOUSTON — The shot left his hand, the buzzer sounded and NRG Stadium roared.
Everyone exploded — except for Lamont Butler. He hardly reacted, playing it cool as teammate Aguek Arop lifted him into the air and the celebration began around them.
“A little shocked,” the junior guard said, after his buzzer-beating, right-wing jumper sent No. 5 San Diego State to a thrilling, 72-71 victory over ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic on Saturday night and earned the school’s first national championship game appearance, Monday night. The Aztecs will meet fourth-seeded UConn, who rolled past Miami 72-59 in the other semifinal. “I didn’t really know, I mean, how big it was. We’re going to the national championship. That’s not [something] many people do. … It feels amazing. It’s just hard to put into words.”
Butler was on the floor for defense, with San Diego State down a point in the final seconds. It’s his strength.
When Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis missed a driving layup with just under 10 seconds remaining, Nathan Mensah grabbed the rebound and immediately found Butler.
The Aztecs don’t believe in calling timeouts in those situations.
They don’t want to allow the opposing team to set up defensively.
Butler intended to get to the rim, but Nick Boyd cut him off. He kept his dribble alive, came back towards his left, and sank the first buzzer-beater in the tournament since Jalen Suggs’ heave two years ago lifted Gonzaga past UCLA in a national semifinal.
This was a one-dribble pull-up, a shot he spent a large chunk of his summer working on.
“I just got comfortable with that shot,” Butler said. “I was able to use it today to win the game.”
San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said he considered fouling, but opted against it. He trusted his defense, which is ranked fourth in efficiency.
He also told his team they wouldn’t call a timeout. He wanted the ball in Butler’s hands.
Butler had hit a buzzer-beater earlier this year, a 3-pointer to beat New Mexico on Feb. 25.
“Lamont made the shot,” Dutcher said. “I always say March is for players, not coaches. Lamont made a play, and made an old coach look good.”
Matt Bradley led San Diego State (32-6) with 21 points and Jaedon Ledee had 12. Butler scored nine.
Alijah Martin had 26 for Florida Atlantic (35-4), which had never won a tournament game until this run.
The thrilling finish capped a memorable clash between non-brand name schools that saw the Aztecs’ rally from 14 points down in the second half — their first double-digit deficit of the tournament.
They allowed 40 points in the opening half, their most since Jan. 7, but got back to their roots over the final 20 minutes.
San Diego State held Florida Atlantic to 31 points on 33.3 percent shooting in the second half and nine offensive rebounds.
Seven of those came in a span of 2:02 late in the second half.
“We knew in order to win this game we had to do all the little things, get loose balls and offensive rebounds when we had a chance,” Bradley said. “That’s what we’ve been doing all year, and that’s what got us to the championship game.”
With 45.9 seconds to go it was a three-point game, but San Diego State scored the final four points, getting a key stop then getting the ball to Butler.
He did the rest, hitting a shot he has dreamt about making.
The Moreno Valley, Calif., native grew up watching the NCAA Tournament.
He would fill out brackets with his family.
Saturday night, he became part of tournament lore, hitting the shot that clinched the fifth-biggest comeback in Final Four history.
“That’s crazy. It’s crazy to even say that,” Butler said. “I’ve watched March Madness for the longest. … This is a dream come true. We’re in the national championship. That’s a dream come true also. We’re going to try to win this thing.”
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