LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Darrion Trammell had shot enough free throws in practice to believe at least one would fall when it mattered.
San Diego State’s 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior guard was fouled by Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard when he put up a floater near the line with 1.2 seconds left in a rugged NCAA tournament South Region final that was tied at 56.
Trammell’s first free throw clanged off the rim, but he knocked down the second, and that was enough to push the defense-first Aztecs into their first Final Four with a 57-56 victory Sunday.
Lamont Butler scored 18 points and Trammell had 12 for fifth-seeded San Diego State (31-6), which slowed down high-scoring, sixth-seeded Creighton (24-13) and became the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the NCAA semifinals.
The experienced Aztecs, in their sixth season under coach Brian Dutcher, will play the surprising East Region champion, ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic (35-3) at 6:09 p.m. Eastern on Saturday in Houston for a spot in the national title game.
The second semifinal has West Region winner Connecticut (29-7) taking on Midwest Region champ Miami (29-8).
“Here we are,” said Dutcher, a longtime assistant to his predecessor, Steve Fisher. “We’re making the next step, and it’s something next we’ve always talked about. I’m sure there were people that doubted we could do it, but we never doubted for a minute.
“Not to say it’s easy to get there or that we would ever get there. But we’re there now, and we’re going to go and try to win the thing.”
In the final seconds of the East final, Trammell dribbled from the perimeter and elevated for the potential winning shot. Nembhard, in pursuit, got his hand on Trammell’s hip and was whistled for the foul, sending Trammell to the line for the first time in the game.
“I feel like I’ve shot probably a thousand free throws in the last week,” said Trammell, who was named the region’s most outstanding player. “And then today, I feel like I put in the work to be able to step up and have confidence that I’m going to make them.”
Well, make one, anyway.
Creighton couldn’t get a desperation shot off on its final play. Baylor Scheierman threw the ensuing inbound pass the length of the floor, San Diego State’s Aguek Arop and Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma both jumped for it, and the ball deflected out of bounds. Officials reviewed the play and determined that time had expired, so the celebration was on for the Aztecs.
“I wasn’t given an explanation other than there was no time on the clock,” Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said. “They made no call on the floor, but officiating is part of the game and we’re not going to go there.”
Scheierman had tied the game at 56when he stole an inbound pass and converted a layup with 34 seconds remaining.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points and Scheierman and Kaluma had 12 apiece for the Big East’s Bluejays, who went 2-of-17 from 3-point range. The Aztecs, who got this far thanks to defense and physical play, held them to 23 second-half points on 28% shooting. Creighton shot 40% overall.
San Diego State shot 38% but got clutch baskets from Nathan Mensah, whose jumper gave the Aztecs a 56-54 lead with 1:37 left, and Arop, who made two straight shots before that for a 54-50 advantage with 3:03 remaining.
“I’ve done that a thousand times throughout the season, so it was just another shot for me,” Arop, who had six points, said of his go-ahead jumper. “Obviously, there was a lot more weight to it, but I wasn’t thinking like that. I was just thinking staying in rhythm, getting the shot up and putting my team up front.”
The Aztecs won for the 14th time in 15 games.
Before muscling past the Bluejays, San Diego State crafted a similar defensive masterwork against Alabama, the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed. The Aztecs held the Crimson Tide and Creighton to a combined 5-of-44 (.114) from 3-point range, the best such defensive percentage ever in a regional weekend for a team that advanced to the Final Four.
Creighton beat San Diego State in overtime in the first round of last year’s NCAA tourney, but the teams didn’t appear to harbor any hard feelings from that meeting. They shared a round-trip flight to Hawaii last fall for the Maui Invitational, and there were no dustups during a tight, physical game in which no team led by more than eight points.
Trammell was part of an all-region team that included teammate Butler, Creighton’s Kalkbrenner and Scheierman and Princeton’s Tasan Evbuomwan.