March Madness: Does San Diego State have any magic left for UConn?

The stage is set in the Lone Star State for a college basketball National Championship like we've never seen before.

On one side, we have San Diego State - a team that has reached the top of college basketball for the first time in its history.

But meeting them there will be UConn - a team whose storied history has seen them claim the title four times prior to this. A fifth title will cap off a return to glory for a program on life support just five years ago.

These two teams have met before in the 2011 Sweet 16 - when the Aztecs were led by Kawhi Leonard but fell short to the Huskies led by Kemba Walker. But now they meet on the biggest stage in college basketball with the stakes higher than ever before. 

Before the ball is tipped, DailyMail.com looks back at both team's performances in the Final Four, the players that have got them there, and who will lift the trophy at the end of it all. 

UConn coach Dan Hurley (L) and SDSU coach Brian Dutcher (R) share a laugh on Sunday

The Huskies and Aztecs meet in the tournament again - but with the stakes higher than before

SDSU Post-Game Analysis

On Friday, Aztecs junior guard Lamont Butler explained his mantra of not letting six seconds define him.

'Early in the season, I turned the ball over against Arkansas and made some mistakes in the last couple seconds of the game,' he explained. 'Against New Mexico, I was able to redeem myself.

'It just means to stay humble, keep your head down, and keep working. You can't let a small mistake define you and you have to keep going.'

After last night, Lamont Butler will no longer be defined by those six seconds. Rather, he will be etched into the lore of March Madness forever as his buzzer-beating jumper gave San Diego State the win over Florida Atlantic to reach the school's first ever national championship.

'I for sure dreamed about a moment like this growing up,' Butler said at a press conference on Sunday. 'This was for sure a dream come true, but it was no comparison to what actually happened. I'm just happy.'

SDSU was able to come back after multiple severe droughts that saw FAU lead by 14 at one point. The Aztecs hadn't held the lead since the first half when Butler's shot won the game for them.

Defensively, San Diego State was able to buckle down in the second half - holding FAU to just 33 percent shooting and forcing seven turnovers. Their physicality got the better of them at some points - committing a total of 17 fouls. But they held on, as the Owls of FAU only managed to make eight shots the entirety of the second half.

Lamont Butler made his dreams come true with a game-winning shot to go to the title game

SDSU Players to Watch

Matt Bradley was able to shake off the rust from his poor showing at the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight to put up 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists on a 5-12 shooting line.

Butler put up nine points - including the game winner - alongside three assists, two boards and one steal. Fellow guard Darrion Trammell will need to step his game up after a 2-8 shooting night against FAU for 5 points. He's more than capable of putting up a big performance - like he did in the Sweet 16 against Alabama.

Off the bench, big man Jaedon LeDee put up 12 points and six boards in only 15 minutes of game time. He's proven to be a great option when the shots aren't falling for Nathan Mensah - who got into foul trouble and put up only seven points in 22 minutes of game time.

Overall, this squad will benefit from their defensive physicality and their experience. They're the 21st most experienced squad according to Kenpom and don't often give up many fouls.

But most importantly, they'll prove to be a problem because of how often they rotate their players. SDSU has an astonishing nine players that average more than 15 minutes per game - with seven averaging more than 20 minutes per game.

Matt Bradley (20) found his scoring touch once again in last night's victory

The Aztecs will hope that Darrion Trammell will step up his game on Monday

Jaedon LeDee (13) put up an amazing performance off the bench against FAU

That added element of different bodies and different looks will provide head coach Brian Dutcher with needed variety as they'll look to challenge UConn at all ends of the floor.

'Obviously we have to control them in transition,' Dutcher said at a press conference in Houston. 'They're as good a 3-point shooting team in transition that we've played all year.'

But he added that the team wasn't afraid of them: 'Our number one opponent is ourselves. So as good as Connecticut is… we will study and we will respect them, but our standard of play is what our goal is.'

'If they beat us at our highest standard, then they deserve to win. But we have to play up to our standard.'

UConn Post-Game Analysis

There was a point that Miami had gone on a 7-0 run in the second half. Momentum was swinging the way of the Hurricanes, the building was cheering for them as UConn coach Dan Hurley called timeout. You could sense that feeling that things could go the way of 'The U' and that they could win this.

There was just one problem: they were still down by 12 points.

UConn's relentless style of play didn't take a rest against the 'Canes. Even though Miami managed more offensive rebounds than the Huskies, Connecticut was still able to push in transition and control the game.

Even with star sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins under the weather, he still performed well and the rest of the team was able to pick up where he left off.

When asked by DailyMail.com on Sunday if he was getting better, he simply replied, 'Yes sir, I will be 100% on Monday.'

The same goes for Adama Sanogo - whose Ramadan fast has impacted his game - but in a positive way.

The Huskies ended the game with their smallest margin of victory at the tournament so far - but still managed to keep their streak of double-digit wins alive.

Hurley (R) and his Huskies have been dominant over every opponent they've faced in March

UConn Players to Watch

Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Andre Jackson Jr. remain some of the most effective scorers on this Connecticut team.

Sanogo put up a 9-11 shooting line on Saturday for 21 points alongside 10 rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Hawkins, dealing with food poisoning, was rotated out to preserve his health and still managed 13 points and three boards. Jackson got in foul trouble early, restricting his time to just 22 minutes, but still managed six points, two rebounds, and three assists.

But as UConn has shown time and time again, their bench has always been able to step up. Last night, the Huskies and the Hurricanes both managed to get 17 points from their non-starters, but UConn managed more assists and more rebounds.

When Sanogo gets rested, a taller presence in 7-foot-2 freshman Donovan Clingan comes in to swat shots and grab rebounds. When Jackson needs to sit to avoid foul issues, Nahiem Alleyene comes in and puts up excellent defense against top guards - like he did last night against Isaiah Wong. When Hawkins needs rest, Joey Calcaterra comes off the bench to provide an option from range to give the Huskies what they need.

Even though they need to tighten up their efficiency from beyond the arc, the Huskies are a well oiled machine and have shown their ability to be ruthless and efficient all tournament long. Don't expect that to change now.

UConn starters Adama Sanogo (L) and Jordan Hawkins (R) led the team in scoring Saturday

Bench threats like freshman center Donovan Clingan (32) provide extraordinary depth

So who's going to win it all?

As mentioned in the previous piece previewing the Final Four, anonymous coaches highlighted one of San Diego State's weaknesses as their aptitude for droughts.

That reared its ugly head once again last night. The Aztecs had five separate droughts of over two minutes and one drought of over three minutes.

This is going to be a problem for them. UConn's transition offense is one of the best in the nation. To demonstrate that, let's use a metric that should accurately portray how efficient a team is on capitalizing on mistakes and we'll call it Direct Points off Defensive Rebounds (DPODR).

Essentially, it asks this question: can a team get a defensive rebound and then immediately score off said rebound. So far this tournament, UConn averages 21.8 direct points off defensive rebounds per game. SDSU averages 18.

But we can go one step further by dividing those DPODR numbers by the total number of defensive rebounds a team gets in a game. It comes out with a ratio that can be called Direct Points Per Defensive Rebound (DPPDR). UConn averages 0.712 of those points. SDSU averages 0.588.

UConn's ability to capitalize on mistakes will give the Huskies a distinct advantage Monday

But SDSU's experience and defensive strength could cause problems for Connecticut

That's the statistical context. From a historical context, UConn has gone to four national championship games prior to this one and has won all four of them. SDSU is on this stage for the first time.

The Huskies have also won every single game in the tournament by double digits going into the title game - something only five teams have done since the field last expanded in 1985.

SDSU's age and experience should help them, but they cannot go on droughts like they have in every other tournament game they've played. 

If they can't manage that, the Huskies will be looking to raise another banner in the already-too-crowded rafters at Gampel Pavilion.