SAN DIEGO — San Diego State Aztecs defeated the No. 5 seeded Creighton Bluejays 57-56 Sunday, continuing their history-making run and moving on to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Houston. After being the first Mountain West Conference basketball team to advance to the Elite 8, SDSU is also now the first Mountain West Conference basketball team to make it to the Final Four.
They will play their next game on Saturday, April 1, against Florida Atlantic University, who advanced by beating Kansas State 79-64 on Saturday.
Darrion Trammell converted a go-ahead free throw after he was fouled on a floater with 1.2 seconds left, and San Diego State muscled its way into its first Final Four, grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament's South Region final.
Lamont Butler scored 18 points, and Trammell had 12 for the fifth-seeded Aztecs (31-6), who slowed down the high-scoring, sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-13) and became the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the national semifinals.
The experienced Aztecs, in their sixth season under coach Brian Dutcher, will play the surprising East Region champion, ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic, on Saturday in Houston for a spot in the national title game.
With the game tied at 56-all on San Diego State’s final possession, Trammell drove toward the free-throw line, elevated for the shot, and was fouled by Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard. Trammell missed the first free throw but converted the second.
Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman threw the ensuing inbound pass the length of the floor. San Diego State’s Aguek Arop and Creighton's Arthur Kaluma jumped for it, and the ball deflected out of bounds. Officials reviewed the play and determined that time had expired, and the celebration was on for the Aztecs.
Scheierman had tied the game at 56-all when he stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup with 34 seconds remaining.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, and Scheierman and Arthur Kaluma had 12 apiece for the Bluejays, who scored 2 of 17 from the 3-point range.
WATCH RELATED: Sweet 16 | San Diego State Aztecs preparing for Sweet 16 game in Kentucky; fans gather at SDSU to support
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET CBS 8:
ADD THE CBS8+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE Roku | Amazon Fire