San Diego State vs. UConn live score updates: National Championship highlights and analysis

As San Diego State continues to hold on by its fingertips, down 10 with 15 minutes to go, I wanted to look a little closer at just what a dominant run this has been for Connecticut. So …

Largest leads in each NCAA Tournament game: Iona by 24, Saint Mary’s by 18, Arkansas by 29, Gonzaga by 33, Miami by 20, San Diego State by 16 (so far), and in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four combined, the Huskies trailed for a total of 47 seconds.

CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said the Aztecs all ran out from halftime yelling, “Six by ten! Six by ten!” Which meant if they could get the deficit to six points by the 10-minute mark, they’ll be fine. It’s a 12-point deficit with 18 minutes to go.

Kimani Young just came on the court and screamed at UConn “Yo, yo, wake up. Let’s go.” He turned to the bench and said, ‘What are we doing?’

Caught the SDSU huddle. “We know who we are.” Broke huddle with “win,” before heading back on court.

“We should probably be up 20,” Dan Hurley tells CBS’ Tracy Wolfson to end his interview going into halftime.

He’s not wrong, though the highlight of this interview for us was Hurley telling Wolfson he “loves those guys,” referring to Ron Groover, Keith Kimble and Terry Oglesby. A fun subplot to this tournament has been Hurley, noted sideline madman unafraid to let a ref know exactly what he thinks of that whistle, repeatedly trying to earn the favor of the refs by complimenting/joking with them during these interviews.

It actually defies logic to have more turnovers (9) than made field goals (8), have gone 11 minutes without a made shot and be 0 for 5 on layups but just down by 12 points. San Diego State should feel lucky.

UConn has eight turnovers, has only made three 3s and has only taken four free throws. In other words, I’m not sure the Huskies have played offense at a super high level…and they’re nevertheless completely in control of this national championship game. That’s a problem for San Diego State. Because I’ve seen the Death Star come online a couple times this tournament. It can eradicate all doubt, very quickly.

Four turnovers in final four minutes – and opened the door a crack for Aztecs. Not sure the 12-point lead is representative of the disparity in this game but San Diego State has shown its ability to come back. Doesn’t need much of an opening.

Connecticut, in one of the most dominant NCAA Tournament runs of all-time, has done this to everybody. And here it comes again, the Huskies’ hammer.

San Diego State has missed 16 of 18 shots and UConn has made 8 of 11, including four straight, and UConn is steamrolling again, up 36-20 with 2:55 to go in the first half. Tristen Newton scored seven straight points and Joey Calcaterra canned a 3-pointer to blow this one wide open. Per usual.

The Huskies are shooting 62.5 percent, the Aztecs 26.1 percent, and the latter is not really built to come back from margins like this. One glimmer of hope: They did erase a 14-point deficit over the final 14 minutes of their national semifinal against Florida Atlantic. But UConn is not FAU.

2 of its last 18 field goals (6 of 23 overall)

8 turnovers

Outscored in the paint 16-6

It’s hard … to believe …. that they will win.

Dan Hurley was upset over that foul call on Jordan Hawkins and went right at official Terry Oglesby. From my vantage point, looked like he entered his landing space.

San Diego State brings a rolled-up, hand-made poster with it everywhere on the road and tacks it up by the locker room exit: DEFENSE TRAVELS.

The problem here is UConn not only boasts the third-most efficient offense in the country, but also the eighth-best defense. So the Huskies have managed to shoot 60 percent against the Aztecs while holding SDSU to 4-of-16 shooting. The Aztecs have missed a dozen consecutive shots and it’s been almost nine minutes since the last make.

Down 10 early to this Connecticut team that has smashed everyone in the tournament is not where you want to be.

San Diego State manages to get Donovan Clingan out of the game with two fouls. So in comes starter Adama Sanogo, an All-Big East player averaging 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and the star of Saturday’s win against Miami.

You can see UConn working much harder than usual to get to its usual offensive spots, but the Huskies are starting to get there. That Joey Calcaterra lob to Donovan Clingan felt like the machine starting to whir and come online.

The Aztecs are settling for semi-contested perimeter shots. They tried to pull Clingan away from the rim on that last offensive possession, but the freshman 7-footer followed the play really nicely and forced a turnover.

San Diego State hasn’t scored a point in five and a half minutes. Don’t know much about basketball, but seems like a bold plan, Cotton.

San Diego State was really sharp off the ball defensively in those first two possessions. That’s a huge key to this game. Force UConn to create off the bounce, don’t give them catch-and-shoot looks from 3.