SAN DIEGO — It was sweet redemption when San Diego State University's Lamont Butler hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer Saturday night.
"I'm sure Lamont felt bad at the end of the Arkansas game," Aztecs Head Coach Brian Dutcher said. "To have a chance to redeem yourself. Not only redeem yourself but in a way that hung a banner for the Aztecs to win the conference championship. That's an incredible moment for him."
Back in November, with 13 seconds to play against 9th-ranked Arkansas, Butler had a brain zap. With the Aztecs leading by four, he fouled the Razorback's ball handler.
That stopped the clock and put the player at the free-throw line. He hit two free throws to pull within two. Then on the inbounds play, Butler got trapped and turned the ball over.
Arkansas would score to force overtime and go on to win the game.
"Yeah, I put that [Arkansas game] behind. So I didn't think about that much. But as I said, I'm glad we got the win. I wish we could have won the Arkansas game too. But I'm glad we got it done versus New Mexico."
"That moment was just for him," teammate Darrion Trammell said. "And he stepped up and knocked it down. During an interview [after Arkansas], he said you couldn't let those seconds define him as a player. And he showed that it doesn't define him at all making that big shot for us."
I overcoached the play," Dutcher said. "I told him to drive to the basket and try to get a layup, we're only down one, but he shot a three, and it went in. So we're all gonna bathe in the glory of that, and I'm so happy for Lamont and how he made that play and won us a conference title."
Butler's heroic shot Saturday night clinched a tie for the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship. They can win the title outright Tuesday night at Boise State.
"This is round two against Boise," Dutcher said. "And we may see them again for round three. So we want to be playing well, and they're gonna be playing well. They're defending champs; they're not giving up on a banner. They're hoping that if they can beat us and we trip up the last game, they can still get a piece of this title, like Nevada. So they're still playing for a title, and so they'll be inspired, and we'll be inspired because we know it's an important game."
Earlier this season, the Aztecs beat the Broncos by 20 points at Viejas Arena. Last year the Aztecs were 0-3 against Boise State.
A win Tuesday night will give the Aztecs their third regular season title in four years and the team's ninth overall.
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