March Madness live updates and Sweet 16 predictions: Clemson-Arizona, UConn-SDSU start times, scores and streaming

BOSTON — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: San Diego State is in the Sweet 16, facing the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will be a heavy underdog against a dominant Connecticut team.

“It’s kind of like deja vu again,” senior forward Micah Parrish said. “We didn’t finish our job last year, and that’s our goal this year.”

Last year, the Aztecs took out No. 1 seed Alabama in this same round, then pulled off late heroics to beat a loaded Creighton team and end Florida Atlantic’s Cinderella run, marching to a national championship game showdown with a buzzsaw named UConn. This time, the No. 1 overall seed Huskies await in the Sweet 16. San Diego State is the latest hurdle between Dan Hurley’s team and the first repeat national championship since Florida did it in 2007.

Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher joked Wednesday that he wishes this game was in Louisville, where his team upset the Crimson Tide a year ago. He’s not sure that experience will help with this one.

“Alabama was a lot younger,” Dutcher said. “UConn is way more experienced, having won a national championship, had these kind of moments already. So in that regard, it’s different. The talent level is really close to the same.”

San Diego State has four of its top six players back from last season: Parrish, Jaedon LeDee, Elite Eight hero Darrion Trammell and national semifinal hero Lamont Butler.

“I’ve got the starting backcourt from last year’s national championship runner-up,” Dutcher said. “I have Lamont and Darrion back, and that’s a good place to start. They’ve been in these moments. They’re not going to be afraid of the spotlight. They’re not going to be afraid of their moment. Hopefully, they have that kind of one shining moment that will allow us to get a victory tomorrow.”

The Aztecs (26-10) have won 25-plus games 10 times in the last 16 years. They’ve made four straight NCAA Tournaments — and it would be five if not for the COVID-canceled tournament in which 30-2 San Diego State would’ve been a No. 1 seed. The Aztecs have made consecutive Sweet 16s for the first time in program history.

“I guess people forget when San Diego State wasn’t in the tournament, how long ago that was, and when San Diego State couldn’t get past the first round,” Parrish said. “That just shows what we did for the program. That’s so good for the program to have an expectation to be here.”

Now that they’re back, LeDee said it could’ve been Connecticut, Kentucky or the “Boy or Girl Scouts” waiting for them. Winning one more game to keep the dream alive is all that matters. It’s how the Aztecs reached the only Final Four in program history last season. But the Huskies did deny them the school’s first national title.

“They took us down last year,” Butler said, “so we definitely want some revenge.”

Thursday is deja vu in another way, too. In addition to last year’s loss to UConn, the Aztecs’ season ended against the Huskies in 2011 — when Kawhi Leonard led a team that won a program-record 34 games to the Sweet 16 before it lost to a Kemba Walker-led team that won a national title.

“We had them in Anaheim with Kemba Walker and a chance to beat them close to our home,” said Dutcher, who was an assistant on Steve Fisher’s staff in 2011. “We played them in LA obviously in Anaheim, and they beat us. They beat the Kawhi Leonard team. So we’re in their backyard now, and hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to beat them close to their home.”