San Diego State Loses In Overtime In 1st Round Of NCAA Tournament

SAN DIEGO, CA — Collapses at the end of regulation and overtime doomed San Diego State in a 72-69 loss to Creighton Thursday evening in a first-round game of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

Trey Pulliam's 3-point basket gave the Aztecs a 62-53 lead with three minutes, 48 seconds left in regulation, but they never scored again in regulation, as their next six possessions resulted in four turnovers and missed shots by Pulliam and Matt Bradley.

The Bluejays had a 4.4% chance of winning with 3:19 to play according to ESPN's Game Tracker when they still trailed 62-53. Creighton went on a 9-0 run in the final 2:28 of regulation, tying the score on freshman guard Trey Alexander's jumper from the left baseline with 11 seconds to play in regulation.

San Diego State had a chance to regain the lead with seven seconds remaining in regulation but Bradley missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Bradley broke a tie with a basket with 3:07 left in overtime and increased the Aztecs' lead to 69-66 with a free throw with 2:06 remaining in overtime, but they never scored again, with Bradley missing the next free throw.

Alexander's 3-point play put Creighton ahead 71-69 with 1:08 left in overtime, its first lead since an 8-7 advantage with 16:41 remaining in the first half.

Bradley, Pulliam and Aguek Arop missed shots on San Diego State's next two possessions.

KeyShawn Feazell made a free throw with eight-tenths of a second to play in overtime, increasing the Bluejays' lead to 72-69. San Diego State was not able to get off a potential game-tying shot, ending their hopes for their first victory in the tournament since 2015.

"I thought we competed at a high level, put ourselves in a position to win, but to Creighton's credit, they closed the game and beat us," Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said.

The difference was at the free throw line, where the Bluejays made 20 of 24, 83.3%, including six of seven in overtime, 85.71%, while San Diego State made 10 of 17, 58.8%, and one of three in overtime, 33.3%.

The Aztecs made 27 of 64 shots, 42.2%, including five of 19 3-point shots, 26.3%. Creighton made 25 of 56 shots, 44.6%, including two of 14 3-point shots, 14.3%.

A 9-0 run gave San Diego State a 21-10 lead 10:10 before halftime. The Aztecs' biggest lead was 35-21 with 4:42 left in the first half.

Creighton closed the first half with a 9-2 run and trailed 37-30 at halftime.

Sophomore guard Chad Baker-Mazara led San Diego State (23-9) with 17 points in 17 minutes off the bench, including 15 in the first half.

Bradley added 16 and Pulliam 14 for the Aztecs, who were seeded eighth in the Midwest Region and seeking their first victory in the tournament since 2015.

Alexander led five Bluejays in double figures with 18 points. Sophomore center Ryan Kalkbrenner added 16, senior guard Alex O'Connell 15, freshman forward Arthur Kaluma 12 and senior forward Ryan Hawkins 10.

Kaluma is the brother of San Diego State senior guard Adam Seiko, who scored five points in 28 minutes off the bench.

Feazell's free throw was the only bench point for Creighton (23-11), which had four players play at least 40 minutes. The Aztecs got 30 points from their reserves.

"We were dead in the water the first half, down 14 ... against a team that's really hard to come back on," said Creighton coach Greg McDermott, whose ninth-seeded team will face Kansas in a second-round game Saturday. The top-ranked Jayhawks advanced with a 83-56 victory over Texas Southern Thursday night.

"It's a program all of us would like to emulate because they're all about success and they're about doing it the right way with toughness and discipline. And that's makes this win even more gratifying because of who we beat."

Kalkbrenner left the game with a knee injury with 2:42 left in overtime and did not return. He left Dickies Arena in a wheelchair.

The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner was selected as the Big East Conference's Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the conference's coaches. His 89 blocked shots entering Thursday's play were the ninth-most among Division I players.

It is unlikely Kalkbrenner will play Saturday, McDermott said.

— City News Service