It was a matchup of wills at the NCAA tournament in Tucson, and San Diego State's leaders would not let them down.

It was Temple with its patience and State wanting to push the tempo. It was warp speed versus stops and starts. It was flash and dash against slash and shoot.

Never could you see two basketball teams be so polar opposite as the Owls and the Aztecs. But when it was over, it was San Diego State moving on to the Sweet 16 of the tourney, and Temple going home.

The scoreboard read Aztecs 71, Owls 64 in double overtime. It was excruciating in stretches. SDSU threatening to blow the game open in the first half. Temple fighting back with a gritty and grimy style of defense. An Aztecs 11-point lead was whittled down to virtually nothing.

Temple showed patience running their set offense. You wanted to scream at them to shoot the ball as they used up virtually all :35 on the shot clock on nearly every possession. Scream so San Diego State could get the ball and go the other way.

It was not easy, but when it was over, the stars had come out. Kawhi Leonard survived an awful first half to get key baskets, hit free throws and pull down rebounds. Billy White, the catalyst, had huge baskets and steals in traffic. Malcom Thomas came up with 4 blocks, many critical in the second half.

Temple would scare you. Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez hit big shots in different stretches to keep the Owls close, and in one instance, give them an early lead in overtime.

But it was the defense that made the difference when all was done. It was not pretty, but San Diego State's big men made every Temple possession a challenge. It won't show up in stats, but the Aztecs big men not only blocked shots, they changed shots close to the basket. End result, the Owls missed 8 close shots in the second half and multiple overtimes.

Size, jumping ability and long arms ruined Temple. Everytime the Owls had an open look close, you could feel the fear, and then see them miss the shot. Afraid someone would block it, they hurried shots. Fearful it would be rejected, they changed the angles to those shots. Worried someone was closing in on them, they got tenative and never went to the basket hard.

Aztecs defense is not so much a work of art, but rather a smudged finger painting, messy but colorful and impressive. When they were done, SDSU allowed Temple to shoot just 37 percent from the floor, blocked 6 shots, made them miss a bucket full of shots close in, and had 40 rebounds to boot.

Leonard was held to 2 baskets in a 37-minute span, but as the most important point of the season was facing his team, he took over. They ran the offense through him. He got baskets, he got fouled, he made free throws. His running mate White came up with huge plays at crunch time late in the game too.

Simlutanously, Temple's leading scorers disappeared. Ramone Moore had 17 points, but virtually nothing in the final 20 minutes. Juan Fernandez and his three point shots were few and far between.

Sure it was frustrating at times, but Temple was like State. They made you work hard, and many times they won the battle. The Aztecs had 3 possessions in the final :45 of regulation and could not win it. They had the ball in the final :30 of the opening overtime, and didn't sink it. Enough was enough, and Kawai-the-Killer and Billy-ball, Leonard and White, ended it in the second overtime.

The stat sheet won't show you the job the Aztecs coaching staff did. They extended the defense beyond the 3-point line late in the first half to really bother Temple's guards. They switched up to make Moore disappear in the second half, and make Fernandez tentative later. The motion offense became disjointed because of what Steve Fisher and his staff ran at them defensively.

There will be a game in Anaheim next week in the West Regionals. State will take its 34-2 record, its talented roster, and its crazy fans "The Show" to the Honda Center. It will indeed be a home game, just an hour from the Madhouse on Montezuma Mesa.

Order your tickets. And send a thank you note to the leaders, Leonard and White. They would not let their team lose. The "Big Boys" did what they had to do, "Man Up" against a big team from the East. Out played them, out toughed them, outwilled them.

Steve Fisher exited the court, both hands in the air, fingers spread in a "V" formation. "V" for victory. "V" for validation. "V" very good.