LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Darrion Trammell was shaking.
His eyes were red with tears and he could barely manage to spit out a coherent sentence.
San Diego State’s 5-foot-10 senior guard had just sent the No. 5-seeded Aztecs to their first Final Four with a clutch free throw with 1.2 seconds remaining, the difference in a 57-56 win over Creighton after a wild series of events that ended the game.
Trammell, a 74 percent free-throw shooter for the season, missed the first and made the second.
“It’s all about believing in yourself,’’ a trembling Trammell said in a CBS interview right after the game. “It’s a blessing. I can’t even put this into words.’’
Trammell, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds two days after leading San Diego State with 21 points in Friday night’s Sweet 16 upset of No. 1 seed Alabama, was named the co-Most Outstanding Player of the South Regional along with Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner.
Darrion Trammell of San Diego StateGetty Images“That the moment wasn’t too big for me,’’ Trammell said. “Through everything I’ve been through (he didn’t receive a single scholarship offer out of high school and played two years for Seattle University before transferring to SDSU), I feel like the opportunity was just set there for me. It was God’s timing. I just had to believe in that.
“It was having the confidence that, yeah, I missed the first one, but I definitely wasn’t going to miss the second one,’’ he went on. “I feel like I’ve shot probably 1,000 free throws in the last week. So, at the end of the day, I feel like I put in the work to be able to step up and have the confidence that I was going to make them.’’
Trammell’s heroics at the end of the game were set up by a horrific turnover by SDSU’s Adam Seiko, who overthrew teammate Micah Parrish on an inbounds play, sailing the ball over Parish’s head and into the hands of Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman, who made a bunny layup to tie the game at 56-56 with 34 seconds remaining.
With SDSU holding for the last shot, a Creighton foul stopped the clock with 6.7 seconds remaining.
Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher conceded after the game that the set play with 6.7 seconds remaining was to get the ball to Parrish coming off a double ball screen, but Parrish couldn’t shake free.
So, Trammell got the ball, drove to the paint, got fouled by Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard and made the most important free throw of his life.
“Darrion is a big-time player for our team,’’ SDSU guard Lamont Butler, who scored 18 points said. “You guys [have] seen the scoring outbreaks he had the last couple of games, but it’s really the defensive side, the pressure he puts on the point guards. And we love him. We need him. We needed him tonight.’’
San Diego State senior forward Aguek Arop called Trammell “a special player,’’ adding, “We’ve seen him do what he did these past two games 100 times over the practices and even games. It’s no surprise to us because, man, this man puts in the work. He came from Seattle overlooked, and for him to step up and do what he did for us is special. We all love him for that.’’
