SDSU coach Brian Dutcher shares formula to knock off Alabama in second half

San Diego State leads Alabama 28-23 at the half of a Sweet 16 game that will send one of the two teams into the Elite Eight later this weekend.

The half couldn’t have gone a whole lot better for the Aztecs, who kept it close throughout and really hounded the Crimson Tide. The rebounding both ways was physical and hard-fought, and San Diego State put its stamp down on the defensive end of the floor.

“I’m pleased with the score. The pace is to our favor,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher told the TBS broadcast crew at halftime. “We’re holding them down, we’re not letting them get fast breaks, we’re limiting second-chance opportunities and our defense has been good.”

San Diego State’s Darrion Trammell led all scorers at the half with nine points. The Aztecs finished the first half with a 25-22 edge in rebounding.

But neither team was able to pull away thanks to poor shooting numbers impacted by terrific defense on both sides.

“I just wish we handled pressure better,” Dutcher said. “But you have to understand, they’re ranked higher than us defensively. Everybody talks about their offense, they have a good defense.”

Alabama finished the first half just 8-of-29 (27.6%) shooting from the floor and 1-of-11 (9.1%) from 3-point range, while San Diego State was 12-of-37 (32.4%) from the floor and 2-of-9 (22.2%) from 3-point range.

Alabama’s keys to the game

Alabama coach Nate Oats provided some keys to the game before the game started, and it’s clear that the Crimson Tide have had trouble following through on some of them through the first 20 minutes.

“We’re going to have to get stops and rebounds,” he said. “If we can get stops and rebounds I think we can run in transition. If we’re taking the ball out of the net all the time they’re going to have their defense set, it’s going to be hard to get in transition.”

San Diego State has now proven to be a big, physical team that likes to bang on the boards. Alabama hasn’t quite figured it out just yet.

“I think rebounding’s going to be huge tonight, our defensive presence is going to be big. We’re not a team that tries to speed it up on the defensive end so they’re going to want to play slow on offense and we’re just going to have to keep guarding, play to the end of the shot clock, force tough shots.

“If we can get an early lead that certainly helps. It’s harder to play slow from behind. So I think great start out of the gate, great rebounding game are going to be big keys for us.”