San Diego State basketball head coach Brian Dutcher has nothing but respect and admiration for UConn, who beat them for the title in the national championship game.

It may be a frustrating loss for the Aztecs, especially after getting so close to actually winning the title. However, in the end, the Huskies are just too good. Dutcher admitted as much in an interview after the game, highlighting that they were simply the “better team.”

“It's a really good team that beat us tonight,” Dutcher said while full of smiles, per CBS Sports. “Like I said, if we find a team that beat us, we'll tip our hat to them. And they beat us, they were the better team and they are deserving national champs. But I love my team, I love my locker room. I just talked about the brotherhood that we have.”

True enough, Brian Dutcher and his men were simply outshined by a better and deeper team. The UConn defense suffocated San Diego State basketball's offense right from the start, and the Aztecs were just unable to get anything going offensively en route to the 76-59 loss.

Keshad Johnson led the way for San Diego State with 14 points, while Final Four hero Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell chipped in 13 points each. Unfortunately, the team just struggled to hit their shots against a tough defense and ended up making just 19 of their 59 shots overall.

Clearly, though, Dutcher has already accepted their fate and is ready to move on. Props should be given to San Diego State basketball for putting up a good fight. It's definitely a good experience for them as they look to try again come 2024.