They pulled within one with two minutes left to go and got the ball back, but Leonard missed a 3 that Fisher to this day thinks was going in. Gay had all 16 of his points in the second half. SDSU had four players in double figures, including 12 points and nine rebounds from Leonard and 13 and eight from Malcolm Thomas. Teammate Jeremy Lamb had 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting. Walker finished with 36 points but took 25 shots. The Aztecs had two more rebounds and one more assist. The Huskies had one more steal and made six more free throws. Both teams had 27 baskets and nine turnovers. The Huskies shot it better from 3, the Aztecs better inside the arc. That was the most disappointing thing, that we had that advantage and weren’t able to capitalize on it.” The biggest regret is we had them across the country and we had our fans in the building. He was phenomenal and their team was phenomenal. “We ran into a red-hot Connecticut team with Kemba Walker. There are teams that have already lost that are good enough to win a national title. “We had a team good enough to win a national title,” says current SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher, then Fisher’s lead assistant. But some felt the real final was in Anaheim against Kawhi Leonard and the Aztecs, with six future NBA players on the floor and a national television audience captivated by the drama. UConn then beat Kentucky and Butler to claim the national championship. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16) for a spot in the Final Four in Houston. Two nights later, the Huskies beat Arizona (which had upset No. UConn and Kemba Walker would win 74-67 in a game that had seven ties and 11 lead changes. Maybe some day I’ll watch it, but I don’t think anytime soon.” “I know (a replay of) that game comes on TV every year because my phone starts blowing up,” Gay says. The memories of that night are bittersweet, bitter at how it ended, sweet at how they got there. Once the run was over, the respect was there: Welcome to the club.” “No matter where you go, San Diego State is known as a top-25 program now. It gave the program credibility, and I think it shows with the type of recruits that were able to attend San Diego State once we left, how the program has sustained. People were like, ‘OK, you guys are legit, you guys can play.’ California is always known to be soft. “It felt like we were finally welcome to the cool kids’ club,” says DJ Gay, the captain and starting point guard. But March 24, 2023, probably doesn’t happen without March 24, 2011. PDT, TBS) for a chance to advance further than any team in Mountain West history. They’ll play again on Fisher’s birthday, in the Sweet 16, Friday in Louisville against No.
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