NCAA Tournament: Dream Becomes a Nightmare for Ex-Cal Star Matt Bradley
Matt Bradley transferred from Cal after last season hoping to get a chance to play in the NCAA tournament with San Diego State. But the dream-come-true of making it to March Madness turned into a nightmare when he got there.
San Diego State blew a nine-point lead with 2:30 left in regulation in a 72-69 overtime loss to Creighton in a first-round NCAA tournament loss on Thursday night. And Bradley, the Aztecs' leading scorer and a first-team All-Mountain West selection, probably felt the sting more than anyone.
He scored 16 points, but was 6-for-19 from the field and 0-for-5 on three-point attempts. However, his postgame comments suggest that the one moment he will remember forever was his trip to the foul line with 6.4 seconds left and the scored tied.
A 79 percent foul shooter, Bradley missed the front end of a one-and-one situation, sending the game into overtime.
Then, with 3.4 seconds left in overtime and Creighton ahead by two points, Bradley was given one more chance to save the game. He came off a screen at the top of the key, but he never got a shot off as he fumbled the ball away with one second remaining, leading to a final free throw by the Blue Jays.
After the game it was the free throw that stuck in Bradley's mind. Asked what led to the collapse in the closing minutes, Bradley pinpointed one moment.
"All I can really remember is, you know it was a tie game, I don't know how many seconds left, I was at the free-throw line and I missed a one-and-one and that sent us into overtime so . . . just wish I could have made those free throws."
In that interview session Bradley was reminded he had also missed free throws in the closing seconds of a loss to Boise State, and he acknowledged that and more.
"Most definitely," he said. "I knew this was my second chance that coach Dutch [Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher] and I have talked about. Boise State didn't really go through my mind, but I knew this was my opportunity to close the game at the free-throw line. It doesn't come down to skill. It comes down to belief, swagger, something I've been lacking. It's been a theme toward the end of the game for pretty much the whole season.
"During this offseason, definitely got to do some soul-searching and figure out what it is mentally that is causing me to do that because it doesn't come down to skill."
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