To know why an unpopular player is known is because he's unpopular. One occurrence makes a deep impression. Conversely, most game results without surprises don't get much attention.

After the timeout, San Diego State University substituted Wright. Clearly, the head coach was dissatisfied with his performance during that stretch.

The replacement was a white backup center named Louis Joseph, about 2.06 meters tall, looking chubby, and obviously a pure meat shield.

Joseph came up and set a solid screen for Franklin. Franklin used the screen to break into the paint and score a layup, helping San Diego State University temporarily stabilize the situation.

But in the next play, Lamb used Zumaku's screen to attack Joseph, scoring a driving layup and drawing a foul on Joseph's hand.

This was really a pure meat shield, very slow on the defensive end.

Lamb made the free throw, bringing the point difference to 12 points.

Franklin tried the same trick on the next play. This time, under Ollie's shouts from the sidelines, UConn didn't switch defense but gave Franklin a step of space for a mid-range shot.

Franklin didn't shoot, and his contested layup over Lamb missed.

Majouk grabbed the defensive rebound over Joseph's head. He was really getting a feel for rebounding!

UConn launched a fast break. Joseph couldn't keep up with the fast-paced offense at all. In UConn's five-on-four situation in the frontcourt, Walker saw the belated Majouk during the breakthrough and directly threw the ball towards the front of the basket.

Majouk listened to Tang Tian's advice to only grab rebounds, so he basically didn't look at the basket on the offensive end, but there was one thing: he loved to jump!

Just like how he had committed two fouls in a row on defense earlier, that was his nature.

At this moment, Joseph was still in the backcourt, and there was no one in front of him. Looking at the thrown ball, he didn't have time to think, and he instinctively jumped up.

He caught the ball and then slammed it towards the basket with both hands while gliding.

Almost at rim level.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound, Majouk's powerful two-handed dunk after the alley-oop.

Because he jumped high enough and far enough, the impact was full of force, and the basket shook.

"Oh! My God! He's flying!" The commentator couldn't help but exclaim.

This play could directly be selected for the NCAA's Top 5 Plays of the Day!

San Diego State University's fans were in an uproar, and obviously this alley-oop had a huge impact on their morale.

UConn's fans exploded even more.

"Connecticut Huskies! Connecticut Huskies!"

In the next second, the entire Riverview Arena resounded with UConn's slogan.

The momentum of the game had completely shifted to UConn's side.

Leonard forced a shot over Tang Tian in the frontcourt but missed, but he used his incredible wingspan and big hands to grab the offensive rebound and drew a foul on Tang Tian with his shot.

After making both free throws, he was helping San Diego State University retain a glimmer of hope.

But in the next play, UConn played smoothly and coordinated well. Tang Tian used Lamb's screen to get a completely open spot, and took another three-point shot after receiving Walker's pass.

"Swish!"

A clean shot, directly rubbing salt into San Diego State University's wounds.

After Tang Tian's three-pointer went in, Leonard, who had been expressionless all along, glanced at the scoreboard at this time and couldn't help but shake his head.

The outcome of the game was basically set.

Leonard's state exploded in the final moments, and he continuously made several shots after mid-range screens, but the gap in strength between the two teams was there, and the point difference increased little by little at a visible rate.

With more than five minutes left in the game, Napier drove to the basket over Wright and scored, causing the latter to commit his fifth foul and leave the game. After making the free throw, the point difference came to 18 points, and the game was also decided.

In the end, UConn relied on a wave of offense shortly after the start of the second half to defeat San Diego State University 71-53, successfully advancing to the Tournament's Round of 32!

For San Diego State University, Leonard had a team-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, but he only made 7 of 21 shots. Franklin had 15 points and 5 rebounds.

For UConn, Lamb scored a game-high 24 points and 5 rebounds on 11 of 17 shooting. With Walker being guarded by Leonard for the entire game, he successfully stepped up.

Walker was guarded by Leonard for the entire game, only took 8 shots, made 3 of 8, and had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 10 assists. Tang Tian made 4 of 5 three-pointers and had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Napier had 12 points and 3 assists off the bench, and Majouk contributed 2 points and 11 rebounds, including 4 offensive rebounds.

It was a game with ups and downs, but UConn still managed to win without any danger, and also unearthed Majouk from the end of the bench.

After the game, confetti flew in the arena, and UConn's players celebrated wildly on the court amidst the cheers of the fans.

"Art! Art!"

Majouk was carried by them and thrown up in the air.

Calhoun also had a smile on his face, but his eyes unconsciously turned to Tang Tian.

If it weren't for Tang Tian's suggestion at halftime, he wouldn't have put Majouk on the court, and the game wouldn't have had such a big change in the second half.

An idea even flashed in his mind that if Tang Tian was in Ollie's position, he would probably do better than the latter.

This was not a sudden thought, but accumulated from Tang Tian's performance bit by bit before.

If Tang Tian couldn't go to the NBA after graduation, he would really strongly recommend him to be Ollie's assistant coach.

"It seems your prayers worked." Looking at the celebrating UConn players, Solomon Hill said to Derrick Williams with a smile.

"We can start thinking about how to play against those guys from North Carolina." Williams said with a smile.

After watching the entire game, he felt that UConn's inside was too weak. One Wright almost made them lose. If he had been on the court, the game would have been over in the first half.

And that Tang Tian, the coach kept reminding him to be careful, but the facts proved that the coach overestimated his opponent. Even Leonard could score so many points in the second half, he was not enough to look at in front of him.

Just like he said, they can really think about how to play against North Carolina, after all, Harrison Barnes is an opponent of equal strength with him, and only North Carolina can pose enough of a threat to the University of Arizona.

After the game, the celebration in UConn's locker room hadn't ended.

Oriakhi's emotions had also recovered at this time, and he was shouting and yelling along with everyone.

"Guys." At this moment, Calhoun suddenly broke in silently.

The cheers stopped abruptly.

"Get a good rest tonight." Calhoun said.

The players originally thought that Calhoun suddenly appeared to lecture them, but they didn't expect that the last thing he said was a word of concern, and laughter erupted immediately.

Calhoun also smiled, then signaled Majouk and Lamb to go to the press conference with him.

"Remember, don't go to bars or nightclubs, you know the team rules." Calhoun couldn't help but say one more sentence before leaving.

After he finished speaking and left, there was another burst of cheers in the locker room.

He shook his head with a wry smile, these kids.