A season of success ended swiftly on Thursday night. San Diego State, the upstart surprise team in college basketball, fell apart, losing to Connecticut, ending an amazing year in a winter-long drive for national recognition. There is nothing so sudden as the finality of getting knocked out of March Madness.

The scoreboard read Huskies 74, Aztecs 67. The ache will exist for awhile, but time and memory will allow us to feel good again.

It was a night of heroic comebacks by two teams that had leads, lost them, and got them back. In the end it was a battle of two brilliant coaches, Steve Fisher and Jim Calhoun.

When it was over, unfortunately, San Diego State came out of character and got outcoached.

There will be all types of numbers to evaluate. San Diego State was hit with two costly technical fouls, something seldom seen. They kept firing three-point shots, but kept missing three-point shots, going just 7 for 21. Their streaky free throw shooting caught up to them, seven missed from the stripe. And their interior defense, so intimidating all year, disappeared, with only one blocked shot.

U-Conn's All American guard Kemba Walker tore them apart. He drove to the basket and scored. He fought through picks to score. He stood out front and buried shots. And if it was not him, then it was his big forward running mate, Jeremy Lamb. When they were done, the duo accounted for 60 points.

It was not a typical Aztecs game. UConn, the bruiser from the Big East Conference, was in attack mode right from the start. State, on their back heels, lost two of their big men early with quick fouls. Kawhi Leonard sat after just four minutes with a foul and then a technical foul. At the seven-minute mark, SDSU had to sit Malcom Thomas with two fouls also.

State hung around thanks to some three-point baskets. But every time they got a lead, you almost sensed doom because that meant the Huskies' Walker would get another chance to shoot -- and did he ever.

Every spirited comeback by SDSU was blunted by Connecticut. Kawhi Leonard had three key baskets late in the first half. UConn in turn reeled off a 10-0 spurt. In the second half, a spirited start got the Aztecs off and running on an 11-2 binge. Kemba came right back and killed them. In an :88 span, Walker hit a jumper, buried a three-pointer, had two free throws, and hit another three. At that point, it was close to being over.

You can go back and look at the video and see where the coaching made the difference.

Calhoun, the crusty UConn coach, changed his lineup early in the first half. Walker was scoreless and missed his first four shots of the game. At the 10-minute mark, Calhoun inserted Shabeez Napier to run the point guard role and shifted Walker to shooting guard. He got hot, and San Diego State got in trouble.

Later in the second half, Calhoun did the same move again, and Walker, who never appeared out of gas, blew by SDSU's defense for a couple of easy drives to the hoop, and then killed them with another three-pointer.

Steve Fisher matched moves with Calhoun. At the start of the second half, I saw Fisher meeting privately with Billy White and Malcom Thomas in the hallway outside the Aztecs dressing room. They would start the second half, running the offense inside-out. Feed the ball inside and try to climb back in the game with their big men carrying the team back. It worked, as SDSU's big men scored 7 baskets in a 10-minute span. But there would be little after that.

If there was one issue that went unanswered, it was simply why Fisher did not go to a zone defense and put Billy White, all 6'8" of him, on Walker. Maybe the Huskies guard might have gone by White and scored. But maybe White's length would have slowed down Kemba the Killer and allowed SDSU to stay in it. White, if you recall, choked off Jimmer Fredette all three times SDSU played its bitter enemy BYU. This time there would be no reassignment. And in the end no chance to win, for Walker just kept firing shots on his way to victory.

You could see the crushing disappointment on the faces of Fisher and his players at the post game press conference. You could hear it in their voices. You felt it in the pit of your stomach.

The only 3 losses in this 34-3 season were to BYU and Connecticut, or maybe more clearly, to Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker. They never stopped the guards. You wish there was another game to be played.

We will remember all the double-double nights from Leonard. We will close our eyes and see the big jumpers from D.J. Gay and Chase Tapley. We will marvel at the passion of White, who saved his best games for the final games of his career. And cherish the yeoman work inside from Thomas. And we will forever hear the echoes of "The Show", the spectacular fans and their costumes, signs and chants.

You only wish the Aztecs had not come out of character and that on this given night, and Steve Fisher had not been outcoached. But in the coming days and a future night in the darkness of Viejas Arena, the sadness will pass and we will fondly remember this Aztecs basketball team. Color, pagentry, fans, jump shots and slam dunks, forever a fun season. A team that fits the University slogan, "Aztecs Forever."