SAN DIEGO — A half hour before San Diego State took the floor in Louisville for its Sweet 16 game Friday against top-ranked Alabama, Viejas Arena was church quiet.
Barely 100 people were seated for the free on-campus viewing party. By tipoff, the gathering grew to 700, most of them students.
Two and a half hours later, 700 sounded like 7,000.
They cheered and shouted, stood and stomped their feet as the seconds ticked down on the 71-64 victory that sent SDSU to the Elite Eight for the first time.
Hundreds of them even rushed the court when it was over, to twist and shout and jump around some more.
"It's history, Aztec history," said Eric Romer, whose history with the school dates back five decades.
Romer, a 1982 SDSU graduate, said his heart "was pounding" in the closing minutes.
"Not even being able to believe that we're going to win it," he said, "because we've come so close before so many times and lost."
Romer was with a classmate, Geoff Koren, who believed in the Aztecs all along.
"I predicted we would win," Koren said to a skeptical reporter.
"I did," he emphasized. "We match up exceptionally well, and our defense was going to shut them down."
"I didn't believe it until all zeroes were on the clock," Romer said.
He wasn't alone.
"When it comes to sporting events, I'm almost pessimistic," said Henry Lie, a political science major who graduates in six weeks. "So I didn't have a whole lot of faith."
Many in the crowd raised an arm in anticipation whenever an SDSU player launched a 3-pointer, and cheers erupted each time the Aztecs made a basket or got a steal or a rebound.
The crowd chanted "Let's go, Aztecs" for the first of several times when Keshad Johnson scored on an alley-oop dunk to give SDSU an early 6-3 lead.
There was little sense, though, that those in attendance were about to bear witness to something special, even after the Aztecs assumed a 28-23 halftime lead.
There was little buzz at intermission. People milled about and casually conversed or went to the concession stand for a hot dog.
Then, early in the second half, Alabama, went on the run Lie was worried about. The Tide rolled to an advantage that quieted the crowd.
An Alabama dunk delivered a 48-39 lead over the Aztecs with 11 1/2 minutes left as the NBA-sized video board went to commercial.
There was stunned silence as Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Spike Lee shouted their way through a Capital One commercial.
"I was like, 'Aww, man, we're screwed," Lie said. "San Diego sports curse. It's happening again."
But the Aztecs weren't done.
They hit a 3-pointer, then got a steal and a layup, then another 3-pointer and a free throw and all of the sudden it was 48-all.
When Adam Seiko hit a 3-pointer for a 51-48 SDSU lead, the crowd was rocking again.
A dunk by Jaedon LeDee made it 60-53 with under four minutes to play.
Aztecs fans like Romer or Lie know never to get comfortable, however.
"Even as we were extending our lead, I was thinking: 'Bama could come back, 'Bama could come back," Lie said.
No matter the era, the team never seems to cruise to victory in a big game. They never make it easy.
Sure enough, Alabama trimmed the lead to two, 66-64, inside a minute.
Lie was all sped up as he watched.
Then Matt Bradley and Micah Parrish hit some free throws, Nathan Mensah grabbed some rebounds and the Aztecs secured the victory.
"I was thinking, 'I'm never going to see them win,' and now we're in the Elite Eight," Lie said excitedly. "I can't believe it ...
"We're still dancing. We're still dancing."
