Viejas Arena was packed over 11,000 strong for the second round of March Madness. That crowd constantly filled the bowl with noise, crescendoing at an unforgettable moment of madness.

SAN DIEGO — Facing a 14-point deficit with less than 9 minutes left to play, Kansas was desperate for a way back in the game. The Jayhawks were playing good ball, but they were playing a lot of catch-up.

Kohl Rosario entered the floor during the Jayhawks’ deepest deficit and breathed life back into the offense. He sank a clutch three and came up with a huge second-chance layup down the stretch.

1 minute left, down by two, Darryn Peterson controls the ball. The freshman star knows this game could be his last in college; he drives and takes a foul. Both free throws drop.

13 seconds remain, and Kansas has fouls to give. Jayhawks flock to Dylan Darling every time he gets the inbound; four fouls later, just 3 seconds remain. Darling takes the inbound, finds a lane, and gets a right-hander up as time expires… and it falls.

Jubilation for the Johnnies filled the arena, juxtaposed by jaded Jayhawks walking off the court.

Darling made his only points of the game count; his teammates, Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins, were also instrumental. Hopkins was lighting up from three, finishing with 6 made on 9 attempts. Ejiofor came down with 9 boards and 18 points, while being a major defensive presence.

Coach Rick Pitino was smiling in the press conference after the game.

“We are so excited,” Pitino said. “It’s so jubilant to see the locker room right now. It’s been a while.”

This is his third season with the program, and the first time in the 21st century that St. John’s is in the Sweet 16.

#9 Utah State takes on the #1 Arizona Wildcats

San Diego State fans know how good the Aggies are when they’re playing at their best. Fresh off a commanding win against Villanova, Utah State was riding into its date with the one seed with confidence. Coach Jerrod Calhoun and his team were all bothered by their low seeding, despite being Mountain West regular-season and tournament champs.

On the other side, Arizona sees Utah State as a tough draw in itself, playing a team that could’ve been a 6/7 seed in the second round as a one seed.

The Aggies fought hard throughout the game, but ultimately never led once. The biggest difference between the two teams by far was rebounding ability.

7-footer Motiejus Krivas had 14 boards on the night, 9 of which were offensive. Despite all the offensive rebounds, Arizona only had 7 more second-chance points than USU.

The man who was getting ‘MVP’ chants was Jaden Bradley, who finished with 18 points. In the times when Utah State was fighting back into the game, it was Bradley, multiple times, who got momentum back on Arizona’s side. His teammate Brayden Burries was getting flowers as well, going 3-3 from three, totaling 16 points.

While they never led, this game was well within Utah State’s grasp from multiple perspectives. They were 8-32 from three; just a few dropping at the right time would’ve changed the game completely. Giving Arizona 39 free-throw attempts was a killer as well.

Drake Allen, point man and one of the more underrated players from this weekend at Viejas, left it all out on the floor in his last game.

“It hurts. I don’t want to take the uniform off,” Allen said. “Knowing it’s going to be my last time wearing it, it means so much. And it really just feels like family, everybody in Logan, it feels like one big family.”

End of the Mountain West Era for USU and Viejas Arena

This is the final representation of the Mountain West for both the venue and the Aggies, whose coach has bittersweet feelings about it.

“The history of this league is really rich. It’s a basketball conference,” coach Calhoun said. “The fans, the environments, it’s been a joy to coach in for two years.”

With conferences fighting more and more each year to attract top talent, the road back to the top for the Pac-12 will be arduous.

“Change is hard,” Calhoun said. “I think at first everybody was, you know, kind of bummed, but now everybody’s excited.”

There were no Mountain West representatives present during the games and festivities in San Diego, Calhoun called it how it is: ‘a messy breakup.’

“I think we did the best we could, the way we represented this conference,” Calhoun said. “Beating a Big East school and taking a 1 seed to a pretty close game. We can only do our part.”

Nate Tubbs

Nate Tubbs is a recent graduate of Journalism at San Diego State University. In his time at SDSU, he wrote and photographed several different sports for Aztec Link, the school’s NIL collective. He also co-hosted a weekly podcast featuring Aztec athletes, sharing their stories and goals for the season. Tubbs is passionate about photography, storytelling, and most of all, San Diego sports.