That team is the San Diego State Aztecs, who leave Louisville with the biggest win of the tournament against Alabama, and also the most controversial ending two days later.
After taking down Cinderalla Princeton on Friday, the Creighton Blue Jays will be replaying the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup all summer and fall.
With the game deadlocked at 56-56, Creighton guard Ryan Nembhard fouled Aztec Darrion Trammell with 1.2 seconds remaining. Trammell hit the back end of the pair to put the Aztecs up one, with Creighton out of timeouts.
After holding an eight point lead in the first half, San Diego State scratched their way back in, then saw both teams trade leads back and forth the entire second half. Creighton averaged 76.4 points per game, but battled to get into the mid 50’s with a trip to their first Final Four at stake. The only other time the Blue Jays had reached the Elite Eight was 1941, when the NCAA Tournament only had eight teams.
Washington State downed the Blue Jays in the first round 48-39, but this was decades before the shot clock and three point line were a thought in anyone’s head. Wisconsin won the National Championship by scoring only 39 points in the title game that year.
For a game so close in most categories, the final two seconds stretched more than 10 minutes. Each team only committed 11 fouls, Creighton was 10-11 from the free throw line, San Diego State was 4-6. Both finished with 37 rebounds, most of which were from atrocious three point shooting (Creighton 2-17 for 11.8 percent, SDSU 3-13 for 23.1 percent).
With Creighton up five midway through the second half, center Ryan Kalkbrenner was whistled for a foul underneath the offensive glass. Kalkbrenner’s foul was deemed a “hook and hold,” which was upgraded to a Flagrant-1. San Diego State had two shots and possession, which turned into a four point swing. The foul was deserved, but the upgrade was questionable. Keep in mind that a key moment just moments earlier saw Trey Alexander be fouled in the backcourt, and had to sit with a hand injury for several minutes.
The issue was that the foul was never called, where everyone in the building and watching on CBS saw it without the need of replay. Ian Eagle and Stan Van Gundy both were stunned by the no-call after seeing a replay after the next stoppage.
When the whistles needed to come out from the officials, they were put away. In the one moment that they should have been put away, the call was made. After Florida Atlantic advanced to the Final Four on Saturday in their upset over Kansas State in the East Regional Final, the idea of getting two smaller schools to Houston was very appealing.
On the ensuing inbound after Trammell hit the second free throw, the ball was heaved 90 feet, where contact was made both by Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma and SDSU’s Aguek Arop, leading the ball to land out of bounds. Replay clearly showed there were 0.3 seconds remaining, but the officials blew yet another call, ruling the game to be over.
By NCAA rules, 0.3 would have been enough time for a “catch and shoot” for Creighton to try and win. Instead, Blue Jay head coach Greg McDermott was still waiting for an explanation in the post game press conference. Add this with Miami erasing a 13-point deficit to Texas just a few hours later in the Midwest Regional Finals on the back of more horrendous officiating, and it puts a large smear on what has been the most entertaining tournament we may ever see.
It helped two teams get to Houston that should have been flying home on Sunday afternoon.
-JC24
-JC24