Even though every team in the First Four as an at-large just barely snuck into the March Madness field, San Diego State basketball came into Selection Sunday feeling pretty good about itself. Even though the Aztecs slid into the play-in, they had to deal with a red-hot North Carolina team that had clearly gotten pretty sick of hearing all of the bad things about itself.
The Tar Heels had to listen to everyone dunk on them and bash their tournament resume for 48 hours, and they played angry. Hubert Davis had his group ready to go as North Carolina crushed San Diego State 95-68 on Tuesday night in Dayton to advance to the Round of 64.
After the game, San Diego State star Nick Boyd gave a blunt assessment of the blowout, but put a positive spin on it heading into the offseason, via Darnay Tripp of NBC 7 San Diego.
“We got punked. They whooped our butts. If you don’t come into the summer ready to work you don’t really love the game.”
Nick Boyd is a great interview, even in tough circumstances. Really appreciate his candid thoughts on a discouraging season-ending loss.
: @MarchMadnessMBB pic.twitter.com/Edd7hmdMpx
— Darnay Tripp (@DarnayTripp) March 19, 2025
“I just think, yeah, this is a loss that we’re gonna feel throughout the simmer,” Boyd said after the San Diego State loss, per Tripp. “We got punched. They whooped our butts. If you don’t come to the summer ready to work, you don’t really love the game. I think this is something we can definitely grow from, rally around and just take to the summer with us and hopefully be back next year.”
North Carolina was locked in on defense in this one, holding Boyd to 12 points on just 4-for-14 shooting. However, it was the Tar Heels’ offense scoring at will on the San Diego State defense that was arguably the most impressive on the first night of March Madness.
Even though it was playing against a very good San Diego State defense, North Carolina could not miss from the 3-point line in this game. RJ Davis finished 6-for-6 from deep, setting a new North Carolina record, and Davis’ squad set a new program record for an NCAA Tournament game with 14 3s made in total.
Now, North Carolina will head to Milwaukee to take on Ole Miss on Friday while San Diego State basketball turns its attention to the offseason. Brian Dutcher’s Aztecs should have a little bit of an extra chip on their shoulder before next season after a loss like this one.
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