HOUSTON — San Diego State’s Lamont Butler took a dribble left, put up the shot just before the final buzzer and that’s the thing about living the dream like Florida Atlantic this time of year. Sometimes the other team is living the same dream. Sometimes the magic is on their side for one final shot, too.
Butler’s jump shot went through the net. San Diego State won 72-71. And it was San Diego State celebrating its big moment, not Florida Atlantic, and San Diego State moving on to the final, not FAU. And it looked like it would be FAU doing those things so much of Saturday night in NRG Stadium.
Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May saw his team win at the buzzer against Memphis to start this NCAA Tournament run. Now he just stood bent over with his hands on his knees, not moving after the shot for 10 seconds, 15 seconds, as if numb from what just happened.
How could he not be?
How could players not fall to the court, like a couple of them did?
That’s part of this story. The other part, of course, is Florida Atlantic had a great run right until San Diego State flexed its muscle in the final minutes. FAU led by 14 points early in the second half. It led 65-60 with more then seven minutes left.
It led 71-70 when Butler took his shot.
But what was on the verge of a rout with FAU leading by 14 points early in the second half became something else entirely. It looked like boxing more than basketball in the final minutes, every shot contested, every rebound fought over, every possession tilting the game another way.
The two teams combined for just four field goals for the seven minutes, leading into San Diego taking a 69-68 lead with 57.8 seconds left.
This whole run by FAU was numbing.
There’s no shame in this loss, nothing but the fun of this full ride to remember. FAU had no national name or basketball tradition. Now they have both. They had no NCAA Tournament win before this run. Now they have a Final Four trip. They play in a 2,900-seat arena, too, so it’s no wonder they were dubbed this dance’s Cinderella.
They didn’t play like Cinderella. They never felt like one, either.
“The term ‘Cinderella’ has always been that team that maybe hit a spurt late in the season and got hot where they average five made threes a game, and then over the over course of five games they make 12 a night,’’ May said. “Whatever the case. It’s more a flash in the pan versus a five-month body of work.”
They’ve won 36 games now. They have fewer losses (four) than the 362 other Division I schools. What sounds like a fairy tale almost ended in the history books, too. Four eighth seeds had made the championship game.
FAU, a ninth seed, came within a couple costly minutes of being the lowest seed to make it.
And so ends the dream. No one thought they’d come this far. No one can exactly measure the impact this will have on the university, too. That will be coming in admission applications, T-shirt sales and a forming Name, Image and Likeness booster group called the Paradise Coalition that has gathered some money to keep FAU athletes at FAU.
May has said he’s staying.
How many players will return, too?
May has said players were being recruited by other schools with NIL money during this tournament run. Nine of FAU’s top 10 players are eligible to return. But people inside the school expect half of those to move on.
No matter, this season can’t be repeated. Thirty-six wins? Attendance records? Going from one previous NCAA Tournament appearance and no wins to the Final Four?
The big question is where this all goes from here. No one knows, of course. But, again, that’s for another day.
This was a dream season for FAU. The first time is the best time in moments like this, the surprise the best part of sports.
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