ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida has a python problem.
They are not indigenous to the region, but Burmese pythons became fashionable pets in the 1970s and when they grew too big, their owners thought, well, why not just release them into the Everglades?
Then they started eating everything in sight and having babies. The concern now is they're working their way north.
There was a sighting in Orlando on Saturday, in the Amway Center in the NCAA Tournament's round of 32.
San Diego State wrapped itself around the Furman Paladins and mercilessly squeezed the life out of Cinderella, racing to a 14-point halftime lead and winning 75-52 to advance to the school's third Sweet 16 appearance — Friday in Louisville, potentially against No. 1 overall seed Alabama.
Or as Charles Barkley put it on the CBS halftime studio show, after the Paladins went nearly 11 minutes without a basket and were outscored 22-10 in the paint: "These are grown men. Furman has college kids. They can't handle the physicality."
The Aztecs (29-6) have been waiting for this performance, putting both ends of the floor together and wrapping it in an NCAA bow. The defense was good, but the offense wasn't. The offense improved, but then the defense slipped. Then the defense ramped up but the offense disappeared.
Saturday, the offense and the defense were spectacular.
They looked tight in the opening moments of an ugly 63-57 win against Charleston here on Thursday, but the win was the school's first since 2015 and, more significantly, the first for coach Brian Dutcher in six seasons as head coach.
A monkey, an albatross, an anvil, whatever your metaphor of choice, was clearly lifted.
"'Dutch' does a really good managing his emotions," senior Aguek Arop said Friday. "I don't think we can honestly tell, but putting ourselves in that position, we can only imagine the relief he felt. Because even for us as players and knowing we've lost the past few years in the first round, getting that first one was a relief."
Added fellow fifth-year senior Matt Bradley: "Yeah, definitely a big sigh of relief."
Saturday, they played like it. Loose. Happy. Relaxed. Together.
Said Dutcher: "I said it before the game: 'Teams don't win that play on their heels. We've got to play on your toes.' ... We played connected, we played the right way, we played with confidence. I thought the first game (against Charleston) we were nervous."
Their first six baskets came from six different players, and all nine players in the regular rotation scored and had at least one rebound on a day when they shot an even 50 percent. Four finished in double figures: Micah Parrish with 16 points (14 in the first half), Darrion Trammell with 13, Lamont Butler with 12 and Bradley with 10 each. Even walk-on Jared Barnett made a 3.
The Paladins (28-8), meanwhile, finished with nearly 30 points under their average of 81.7 points that ranked ninth most in Division I. They needed a few late jumpers to climb above 30% and finish at 30.8, lost the battle of the boards 41-24 and were absolutely annihilated in the muscle categories.
Second-chance points off offensive rebounds: 18-5.
Points in the paint: 40-16.
You want a signature moment?
Furman guard JP Pegues drove the lane and pump faked 6-9 Jaedon LeDee and Arop into the air, then spun and figured he had an easy basket — only for Bradley to fly in and swat it to Miami.
Grown men vs. college kids.
"They were very physical," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "They were able to do some damage to us inside, and then they started getting comfortable from the perimeter. ... We just couldn't, we couldn't catch a rhythm."
Furman actually led this game 17-15 midway through the first half, and starter Keshad Johnson went to the bench with his second foul.
And then …
A 15-0 run at roughly the same point of the half that the Aztecs laid a 15-4 run on Charleston that erased a seven-point deficit and changed the complexion of the game. This was even more ruthless, more dominant, more convincing.
The Paladins went nearly 11 minutes without a basket, from 11:17 left to 23 seconds when Mike Bothwell made a contested jumper at the shot clock buzzer. The basket at 11:17 came in a similar scenario, one of the nation's fastest teams reduced to passing it around in the halfcourt and jacking something up as the shot clock expired.
At the other end, for a change, the Aztecs were just as impressive. After a slow start (two misses and a turnover), Parrish caught fire and had 14 by intermission after making six of his next eight shots, including a pair of 3s.
Richey even tried the 1-3-1 that won them the Virginia game two days earlier.
After Bothwell's jumper, the Aztecs called their use-it-or-lose-it first-half timeout and got the ball to Bradley in an isolation set.
Good.
Halftime score: Aztecs 39, Cinderella 25.
As if Furman needed anything else to go wrong, the ice-cold Trammell opened the second-half scoring with a 3. Then the 6-6 Arop blocked a dunk attempt by 6-9 Garrett Hien. Then Southern Conference player of the year Jalen Slawson picked up his second, third and fourth fouls in just over two minutes and went to the bench.
Slawson returned … and fouled out with 10:01 to go … and was whistled for a technical foul.
That pushed the margin to 23, and fans started booking tickets to Louisville.
There were no wild celebrations at the final buzzer, no water baths in the locker room. The players and coaching staff were happy. They also viewed the Sweet 16 as part of a journey instead of a destination.
"Obviously," Trammell said, "we're not done yet."
Notable
Alabama plays Maryland in Birmingham, Ala., at 6:40 p.m. PDT on CBS for a spot in the Sweet 16 opposite SDSU … The officiating crew consisted of Mike Reed, Pat Adams and Tony Chiazza. Adams (SEC) and Chiazza (Big East) had no prior familiarity with the Aztecs. Reed, however, did. He is based on the West Coast and worked six SDSU games this season, most recently the win against San Jose State in the Mountain West tournament semifinals. (He also was the lead official at Utah State, when Trammell was controversially ejected in the first half.) … The Aztecs wore their home whites again, as the higher seed … Bothwell finished with 15 points, three under his average. Slawson, who averages 15.8, finished with eight. Pegues had 10 points but on 3-of-15 shooting.
