UConn’s run to the NCAA final is one for the ages… but does San Diego State have any magic left? 

The stage is set in the Lone Star State for a college basketball National Championship the likes of which we have never seen before.

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

But joining them will be UConn, a team whose storied history has seen them claim the title four times before this. A fifth title will cap the return to glory of 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 just short against the Huskies led by Kemba Walker. But now they find themselves on the biggest stage in college basketball with much more at stake than ever before.

Before the ball is thrown, DailyMail.com takes a look at both teams’ performances in the Final Four, the players who have gotten them there and who will lift the trophy at the end of it all.

SDSU Postgame Analysis

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

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

“It just means stay humble, keep your head down and keep working. You can’t let one little mistake define you and you have to move on.’

After last night, Lamont Butler will no longer be defined by those six seconds. Rather, he’ll be etched in March Madness lore forever, as his buzzer-beater jumper gave San Diego State a victory over Florida Atlantic to clinch the school’s first national championship.

“I sure dreamed of a time like this growing up,” Butler said at a news conference Sunday. “This was certainly a dream come true, but it cannot be compared 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 them the game.

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

SDSU players to watch

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

Butler chipped in nine points, including the game-winner, along with three assists, two boards and a steal. Fellow guard Darrion Trammell will need to up his game after a 2-8 shooting night against FAU for 5 points. He is more than capable of putting on a great performance, like he did in the Sweet 16 against Alabama.

Off the bench, big Jaedon LeDee had 12 points and six boards in just 15 minutes of playing time. He has proven to be a great option when shots don’t fall on Nathan Mensah, who got into foul trouble and scored just seven points in 22 minutes of playing time.

Overall, this team will benefit from their defensive physique and experience. They are the 21st most experienced team according to Kenpom and don’t concede many fouls.

But more importantly, they will prove to be a problem because of how often they rotate their players. SDSU has an amazing nine players averaging 15+ minutes per game, with seven averaging 20+ minutes per game.

That added element of different bodies and different looks will give head coach Brian Dutcher much-needed variety as they look to challenge UConn on all ends of the court.

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

But he added that the team was not afraid of them: ‘Our number one rival is ourselves. As good as Connecticut is…we’ll study and respect them, but our standard of play is our goal.”

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

UConn post-game analysis

There was a point where Miami went on a 7-0 run in the second half. Momentum was turning the Hurricanes’ path, the building was cheering them on when UConn coach Dan Hurley called timeout. You could get 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 12 points.

UConn’s relentless style of play didn’t stop with the ‘Canes. Although Miami had more offensive rebounds than the Huskies, Connecticut was still able to push in transition and control the game.

Even with star second-year 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.

Asked by DailyMail.com on Sunday if he was improving, he simply replied: “Yes sir, I’ll be 100% on Monday.”

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

The Huskies finished the game with their smallest margin of victory in the tournament thus far, but still managed to keep their double-digit winning streak alive.

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 Saturday for 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Hawkins, dealing with food poisoning, was rotated to preserve his health and still had 13 points and three rebounds. Jackson got into 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, your bank has always been able to step up. Last night, the Huskies and Hurricanes managed to get 17 points off their non-starters, but UConn had more assists and more rebounds.

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

Although they need to beef up their efficiency beyond the arc, the Huskies are a well-oiled machine and have shown their ability to be ruthless and efficient throughout the tournament. Don’t expect that to change now.

So who’s going to win it all?

As mentioned in the previous article on the Final Four preview, the anonymous coaches highlighted one of San Diego State’s weaknesses as its aptitude for droughts.

That reared its ugly head again last night. The Aztecs had five separate droughts of more than two minutes and one drought of more than 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 this, let’s use a metric that accurately describes a team’s efficiency in capitalizing on errors and call it Defensive Points of Defensive Rebounding (DPODR).

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

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

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

The Huskies have also won every game in the tournament by double digits leading up to the title game, something only five teams have done since the field was last expanded in 1985.

SDSU’s age and experience should help them, but they can’t suffer from droughts like they have in every other tournament game they’ve played.

If they can’t handle that, the Huskies will look to raise another banner in the already overcrowded rafters at Gampel Pavilion.