San Diego State set aside a serious push by the University of Alabama Birmingham 69-65 Friday to reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane.
But it was not easy for No. 5 seed SDSU to stave off No. 12 UAB as the Blazers surged to a lead in the second half despite being down by as many as 11.
They moved on thanks to Jaedon LeDee, who scored 32 points, more than any other Aztec in an NCAA Tournament, and Lamont Butler, who added 15 points and set the tone on defense.
The Aztecs scored 17 points off turnovers and Butler was key, LeDee told CBS, putting himself “in their face all game.”
San Diego State (25-10) will meet No. 13 Yale – which upset No. 4 Auburn, 78-76, Friday – in the next round of East Region play at 6:40 p.m. Sunday, in a game airing on TBS. Yale (23-9) secured its spot in the tournament with a buzzer beater at the Ivy League Tournament; the team is led by forward Danny Wolf and guards Bez Mbeng and John Poulakidas.
Against UAB (23-12), the Aztecs had a dominant opening half on the surface, yet allowed the Blazers to hang close, taking only a 35-29 lead into the break.
SDSU started fast – and this would become a theme early on, as LeDee stole the ball from UAB’s Christian Coleman, and opened up the scoring with a layup.
SDSU would score 10 points off Blazer turnovers in the first 20 minutes, but they also, as is their wont, failed to convert some of them – along with several second chance opportunities.
The Aztecs had nine turnovers of their own, but for the most part, UAB also failed to capitalize.
Butler had five points in the half, but significantly four of San Diego State’s 10 steals, a sign of how the Aztecs disrupted UAB.
They also harassed two top Blazers, Yaxel Lendeborg and Coleman, who entered the second half with three fouls each.
Fouls factored in, on both sides, as Lendeborg, who had been held scoreless by SDSU early, broke through, and mostly from the line, where UAB excels.
It was enough for the Blazers to come all the way back and tie the game at 49 as Efrem Johnson hit a three-pointer, then gave his team the lead with a jumper with less than 10 minutes to go in the game.
It took the Aztecs a while, but LeDee took back the lead with a layup as the clock ticked below five minutes. And Lendeborg would foul out, as did Javian Davis, leaving UAB shorthanded.
As Butler noted, he and his teammates, battle tested in their deep conference, stayed cool despite the pressure.
“We just didn’t panic,” the guard said. “We have been in that position before where teams came back on us. In the Mountain West, it happens all the time. So we were kind of
used to it.”
Head coach Brian Dutcher also pointed to his veteran team’s seasoning during the 2023 NCAA Tournament run.
“I told the team after the game that experience means something,” he said. “I think all that experience we got last year paid off.”
Ultimately San Diego State prevailed thanks to their 8-of-10 performance at the line down the stretch, with LeDee making four and Butler two.
But LeDee cast a long shadow overall in the win as he passed Xavier Thames, who in 2014, with 30 points, had the previous high for an Aztec in the NCAA Tournament.
And he remains aware of the weight of the moment.
“I know the severity of the situation, for sure. I mean, you win one game or you’re done,” the All-American said. “So I’m just out there giving it my all and just making sure it’s not our last game.”
Dutcher ticked off all the ways LeDee impacted the game, not just on offense, but in forcing the fouls that hampered UAB from the start.
“He makes a mid-range jump shot, he draws fouls inside, he made an early three again,” Dutcher said. “So we had his game working at every level, post-ups, mid-range jump shots, and the three-point shot. That makes him a really hard guy to guard.”
Only San Diego State, along with Utah State, remain from the six Mountain West representatives in the tournament. Utah State defeated TCU late Friday and moves on to face the Midwest’s top seed, Purdue.
Updated 2:40, 6:50 and 9:50 p.m. March 22, 2024