Heartbreak in San Antonio: Houston’s Crushing Loss to Florida
SAN ANTONIO — The Alamodome was a sea of emotions on Monday night, as Houston coach Kelvin Sampson faced the media after a gut-wrenching loss. Nearly an hour had passed since Sampson walked off the court, surrounded by the celebratory orange and blue confetti of the Florida Gators. The 69-year-old coach stood in front of a black curtain, illuminated by the harsh glare of television lights, reflecting on what was perhaps his most crushing professional low.
With his arms folded and an NCAA National Final pin on his gray polo, Sampson distilled the disappointment of Houston’s 65-63 loss to Florida. The Cougars had squandered a 12-point second-half lead, ending the national title game with four consecutive turnovers. “There’s a lot of teams that are not built for six straight wins,” Sampson said, referring to the number needed to win the NCAA tournament. “This team was, this team was built, this team had the character and the toughness and the leadership. This team was built to win this tournament, and that’s why it’s so disappointing. We got here and had a chance and just didn’t get it done.”
The scene was a stark contrast to Houston’s stunning comeback win over Duke in the national semifinal. On Monday, the Cougars faltered in the final minute, failing to even get a shot off on their last three possessions. Just 48 hours after scoring the game’s last nine points in 33 seconds to stun Duke, Houston lost a game it controlled throughout, trailing for only 63 seconds.
Florida’s first lead in the second half came with just 46 seconds remaining. Sampson called it “incomprehensible” that the Cougars couldn’t get a shot off on the final two possessions, as Houston closed the game with back-to-back turnovers by star guard Emanuel Sharp.
Florida’s comeback was the third-biggest in NCAA title game history, leaving the Houston locker room a mirror image of the devastation it had caused two nights prior. As reporters entered the Houston locker room, guard Milos Uzan escorted Sharp away from the media. Sharp, with a towel over his head, could be heard wailing as Uzan attempted to console him. “That’s me, bro,” Sharp was overheard saying, followed by a scream of frustration.
The quiet locker room was punctuated by the occasional flush of a toilet, adding to the awkwardness of the interviews. Houston’s Joseph Tugler summed up the devastation simply: “That broke everybody’s heart.”
Sharp’s pain was palpable, stemming from the back-to-back possessions that ended the game, his only two turnovers. Sampson described them as “a couple tough possessions decision wise.” With Houston facing its first deficit of the half in the final minute, Sharp drove to the basket with nearly 30 seconds remaining and was stripped by Florida’s Will Richard, forcing Sharp to kick the ball out of bounds with 26 seconds left.
After Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen made one of two free throws, Houston had the ball down two with 19 seconds left. Florida’s defense stymied Houston’s early offensive action, and Sharp caught the ball nearly 6 feet behind the 3-point line with 5 seconds remaining. Sharp attempted a long 3-pointer, but Walter Clayton Jr. lunged at him mid-air, forcing Sharp into an unenviable position.
Sharp shielded Clayton as the ball hit the floor, and Florida’s Alex Condon made the hustle play to seal the game, snagging his fourth steal of the night. Sharp slumped down a few feet from his final turnover, his elbows perched atop his knees and fists covering his face.
“I told him I loved him,” Sampson said when asked what he told Sharp. “I told him I loved him, and I really focused on the job he did on Clayton. He did an awesome job on him. He made a couple reads that I’m sure he wish he’d had over, but we don’t get there without that kid.”
Sharp played gritty defense on Clayton, who finished with 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting, taking more than 32 minutes to score a field goal. Sampson hoped that Sharp would have shot faked and got into the paint, but instead, Clayton’s contest froze him, making it a key play in the game.
- The other two Houston turnovers to close the game included a turnover off an offensive rebound by Tugler and a baseline drive to nowhere by L.J. Cryer, which culminated when he flipped the ball into Condon’s chest in the paint.
Cryer summed up the overall tenor of missed opportunity: “It was definitely there for the taking.”
A win would have marked Sampson’s 800th career win and his first national title, likely pushing him to Springfield on the first ballot. Instead, he left the court in disbelief after the handshake line. His daughter, Lauren, ran to him in the tunnel and hugged him. “I’m OK,” he told her.
As the assistant coaches sat in their locker room, staring into space, Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson, the head coach’s son, summed up the fickle bounces of the tournament’s fate: “It’s a brutal, cruel guillotine,” he said. “When you get here, every team is so good and you don’t get here without a team that’s connected, resilient, tough. The margins are so razor thin. We certainly did enough tonight to win. Florida did as well, and they won.”
Originally Written by: Pete Thamel
