Drawn-out reviews at end of game rob San Diego State of its Final Four moment to celebrate

What a buzzkill.

When San Diego State commemorates the moment it clinched its first trip to the Final Four, will it use a photo of the referees huddled around the scorer’s table? A stopwatch?

Yes, officials were right to call the foul on Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard. It was obvious in real time, and replays afterward confirmed, that Nembhard had his left hand clamped firmly at Darrion Trammell’s waist as Trammell put up a layup that clanged off the rim. That’s a foul in every game, at every level, whether it’s a Final Four or post-game ice cream on the line.

But to have this game, between these two teams, end like that sucked all the joy and drama out of it. And when officials took several minutes to review who knows what on Creighton’s last-gasp inbounds play, it robbed the Aztecs of the jubilant on-court celebration they deserved. Especially for their very first Final Four appearance.

“It was controlled madness,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said after his Aztecs squeaked out a 57-56 win over Creighton to win the South Regional in the NCAA men’s tournament.

Madness, yes. Controlled? Not so sure about that.

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers from Sunday's Elite Eight

POSTSEASON LINEUP: Complete NCAA men's tournament schedule, results

Creighton coach Greg McDermott was heated during the game, red-faced as he yelled at official Lee Cassell. But he was diplomatic afterward, refusing to address the foul call and saying one play wasn’t responsible for Creighton’s loss.

“You win with class and you lose with class, and that’s what we’re going to do,” McDermott said. “We had some decent looks at the basket in the second half but were unable to knock them down. … It’s on us we didn’t quite get it done, not anyone else.”

No doubt his friendship with Dutcher was a large factor in his restraint.

McDermott and Dutcher have crossed paths often throughout the years despite their teams not being remotely close to each other geographically, and they have a bond that goes beyond the basic coaching fraternity. Their teams even shared a plane to the Maui Invitational last fall.

So no matter what McDermott really thought about the last 1.2 seconds of the game, or the several minutes it took to review them, he wasn’t going to say it.