BOSTON – San Diego State cut UConn’s lead to five with just over five minutes left in Houston and Jordan Hawkins, as he often did, ran around screens from Alex Karaban and Adama Sanogo to catch the ball on the move at the left wing and heave it toward the basket.
“I was a little late but I was still on his hip, I got hit with two screens and I still contested the shot and he hit a good shot, so credit to him,” San Diego State guard Lamont Butler recalled Wednesday as he prepares for a rematch against the Huskies in Boston. “Hopefully this year they don’t hit that shot.”
That 3-pointer turned all momentum back to the Huskies as they closed out the Aztecs to win national title No. 5.
Of course, Hawkins is gone now and so are Sanogo and Andre Jackson. For San Diego State, Butler is one of four returners who were among the team’s top six scorers last season. The Aztecs also lost three starters in Matt Bradley, Nathan Mensah (eligibility expired) and Keshad Johnson (transferred to Arizona).
This year it could be Cam Spencer, or Alex Karaban, or Tristen Newton – who had a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in that title game – to come around and hit that type of shot. But the Huskies, who’ve beaten 29 of their 30 nonconference opponents over the last two seasons by double-digits, hope it doesn’t come to that.
“We know how hard it is and as much as (UConn) ran through the tournament last year, dominated pretty much everybody, we felt with five minutes to go, it was a five-point game, we put ourselves with a chance to win,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “So hopefully (Thursday) we’ll do the same thing. Hopefully with five minutes to go in the game, we’ll have an opportunity to win.”
Jaedon LeDee, a 6-9 forward who scored seven points in 18 minutes off the bench in the title game, has stepped into Bradley’s role as the team’s No. 1 option. The only Aztec in double-figure scoring, LeDee has upped his production from 7.9 points in 18.1 minutes per game last year to 21.5 points in 32.7 minutes this season, while also leading the team in rebounds (8.4). LeDee is also the top 3-point shooter on the roster at 45.1% on the year.
In the postseason alone, LeDee has been at the top of his game, averaging 27.8 points over five games since the start of the Mountain West conference tournament.
“It could’ve been anybody. It could’ve been UConn, it could’ve been Kentucky, it could’ve been boys or girl scouts, it don’t matter,” LeDee said. “Just being here in this position is a blessing. For us to be together and have fun and enjoy this game together is a blessing.”
The Aztecs, in their seventh season under head coach Brian Dutcher, finished fifth in the Mountain West standings (11-7) and were one of six teams from the conference to earn an NCAA Tournament bid after losing to New Mexico in the conference tournament final.
After taking down 12-seed UAB and 13-seed Yale in Spokane, they are the only Mountain West team to make it out of the first weekend.
“Obviously coming back from that game last year, we have both gotten to this game again. A lot of respect for San Diego State and Coach (Dutcher) and their culture. I think it’s an awesome matchup,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said.
The Huskies enter Thursday’s game after a historically successful regular season that featured dual championships in the Big East and blowout wins over 16-seed Stetson and 9-seed Northwestern in Brooklyn. A win on Thursday would tie a program record for wins in a season, set by the 1999 championship team (34).
While San Diego State flew across the country to get to Boston, UConn got to stay on the east coast, only having to drive about an hour and a half northeast to TD Garden.
“This wasn’t some gift by the committee to try to make it as easy as possible for us. We’ve earned our position,” Hurley said. “We’ve manifested Brooklyn to Boston since really April, since last year when we won the championship. We’ve worked incredibly hard over that time period to earn the opportunity to play in front of hopefully a 60% UConn type of crowd. Hopefully Illinois’ fans stay away and Iowa State’s fans don’t get involved.”
What to know
Site: TD Garden, Boston
Time: 7:39 p.m.
Series: UConn leads, 2-0
Records: 1-seed UConn: 33-3, 5-seed San Diego State: 26-10
TV: TBS – Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy and Andy Katz
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports 97.9 – Mike Crispino and Wayne Norman
Pregame reading: