Lamont Butler, Brian Dutcher breaks down game-winning shot from San Diego State

There’s just something about the city of Houston and game-winning shots. Six years after Kris Jenkins won the national championship for Villanova, Lamont Butler made a name for himself at NRG Stadium. His made bucket as time expired will send San Diego State to Monday in hopes of cutting down the nets.

The entire moment was chaotic for the Aztecs. Instead of fouling, they decided to play defense with a shot clock/game clock difference of six seconds. After rebounding an FAU miss, head coach Brian Dutcher just told his team to get downhill.

“I ran out of plays,” Dutcher said during a postgame interview with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. “So, I decided to not take a timeout. I said ‘if we get the rebound, let’s get downhill, send all three bigs to the rim. Lamont, get downhill.’ And then he made the play. I’m proud of him.”

Butler was the one who ended with the ball in his hands. After a few moments of dribbling near the baseline, the guard rose up from midrange and saw the ball go through the bottom of the net. From there, pure euphoria from the San Diego State bench.

“The plan was just to get downhill,” Butler said. “They cut me off a little bit. I look up and there’s two seconds left so I got into a shot that I’m comfortable with. And I hit it.”

San Diego State heading to national championship on Monday

The journey is not quite over for San Diego State. Another game is still to be played, with the national championship occurring on Monday night. Either Miami or UConn will be the opponent, with their game following the drama that was the early contest.

That’s probably not something people in San Diego thought they would be saying. The Aztecs are playing for a national championship.

“It’s unbelievable,” Butler said. “It’s what I came here to do. I’m glad the shot went in and I’m just happy for my team right now.”

Dutcher does have experience in title games, doing so at Michigan back in the day. However, he was always an assistant coach. He will now be the one in charge of the program but unsurprisingly, is just happy for the people around him.

“I’m just happy these guys get to experience it for the first time,” Dutcher said. “My coaching staff — I’m so proud of all of them. The hard work they put in. They’re deserving.”