Saturday's Game Is Why San Diego State's Matt Bradley Left Cal

Aztecs star Bradley faces UConn for the NCAA championship Monday. San Diego State could become first West Coast team in 26 years to win the national title

San Diego State star Matt Bradley represents a major reason players transfer.

In three seasons at Cal, a berth in the NCAA tournament was unimaginable, a realistic chance to participate in the Big Dance vanishing by the end of January.

He finished fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring in 2019-20 at 17.5 points a game and third in 2020-21 at 18.0 points a contest, but was not named to the 10-man all-Pac-12 first team either year because the Golden Bears had such a poor team (7-11 in the conference in 2020 and 3-17 in 2021).

At San Diego State Bradley made the five-man all-Mountain West first team in his first season with the Aztecs in 2021-22 and made it again this season even though he is averaging just 12.7 points at the moment. (Bradley received an extra season of eligibility because the 2019-20 season did not count against eligibility because of the pandemic.)

More significantly he played in the NCAA tournament both seasons with San Diego State.

And on one of the most important Saturdays in sports, with all the college basketball world watching, Bradley had a memorable game, giving San Diego State a chance to become the first West Coast school in 26 years to win the national championsjhip.

Cal has continued its downward trend without Bradley, falling to its worst record in history (3-29) this season, but Bradley is still playing, basking in the glow of his 21-point performance in the high-exposure national-semifinal-game victory over Florida Atlantic.

Bradley’s production was relegated to an afterthought when Lamont Butler hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer, providing San Diego State with a 72-71 victory over the Owls, granting the Aztecs a berth in Monday’s national championship game against Connecticut.

However, San Diego State would not have won without Bradley’s strong showing, which erased his weak performances in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight victories when Bradley scored just eight points on 3-for-17 shooting in the two games combined.

Instead he now is known for the 10 points he scored during a 13-minute span in which the Aztecs reduced a 14-point deficit with 14:56 left down to one point with 2:05 remaining.

“I just felt good,” Bradley said of his bounce-back performance. “I had two bad shooting performances these last couple of games. And I just got back in the gym. My teammates were encouraging me, my coaches. Spent some time praying, doing what I need to get right. I trust myself, most importantly. I'm thankful I was in the position to come through.”

San Diego State’s postgame press conference:

And now he a chance to raise his status even further with an impressive showing Monday. If the Aztecs win the title, they would become the first team from the West Coast to win the NCAA basketball championship since Arizona turned the trick in 1997 as a No. 4 seed. More significantly, fifth-seeded San Diego State would be just the fourth team seeded lower than fourth to win the nation al championship.

And Bradley has done while working toward his degree at San Diego State.

“It's been the longest month I've ever been a part of,” Bradley said. “Every day I'm dedicated to being better as a player, as a teammate. But off the court, definitely, we have the resources to get us better, in the classroom. We have tutors here. We've got free time to do whatever I have to do. It's hard, but it's manageable.”

Playing a game in April. What a concept. Cal has never played a men’s basketball game in April.

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Cover photo of Matt Bradley by Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports

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