A Foul and a Free Throw Send San Diego State to the Final Four

The game was played largely at San Diego State’s preferred pace, but Creighton played almost exclusively with the lead, fending off repeated Aztec charges.

After Creighton surged to a 28-20 lead, urged on by a largely blue-clad crowd, San Diego State finally figured out how to keep the Bluejays’ 7-foot-1 center, Ryan Kalkbrenner, from having his way diving to the rim for alley-oops or putting his nifty post moves to use. Nathan Mensah, San Diego State’s 6-foot-10 senior center, did yeoman’s work against Kalkbrenner, who led Creighton with 17 points.

When Trammell sank a jumper near the free-throw line, San Diego State had finally gotten even with less than three minutes left in the half. But Creighton didn’t allow another basket and carried a 33-28 lead into the break.

San Diego State came storming out of the locker room, and when Mensah blocked consecutive shot attempts, sparking a fast-break lay-in by Butler, the Aztecs had their first lead, 35-34.

Again, it did not last long. Kaluma answered with a driving layup and San Diego State went cold, missing its next 10 shots — many of them on drives to the rim.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/sports/ncaabasketball/march-madness-sunday.html