Houston rue ‘incomprehensible’ collapse to hand Florida NCAA title

It came down to one more play.

In a championship game where every possession felt like a fistfight, Florida landed the final punch. Houston buckled. And for Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars, that sliver of difference will sting for a long time.

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“They made one more play than we did tonight,” said the 69-year-old Sampson, denied his 800th career win and first national championship in a contest where his team trailed only 64 seconds all night. “We lost by two points. That’s what it came down to.”

That play, and the championship, was decided in the final reel. With five seconds to go, Houston’s Emanuel Sharp caught the ball near the top of the key, preparing to rise for a potential game-winning three. But Walter Clayton Jr – Florida’s All-American guard who had struggled to find a rhythm all night – came flying at him, full sprint, hands high, staying just off-center to avoid fouling.

Related: Florida roar back to break Houston hearts and capture third NCAA title

Sharp hesitated. He dropped the ball. And in that split-second of confusion, it was over.

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“My mind was kind of blank, honestly,” Clayton said. “I was just going 100%, trying to get a stop. We ended up getting it.”

Florida’s bench erupted. The Aussie center Alex Condon dove to the floor and covered the loose ball as the horn sounded. The Gators stormed the court in celebration, 65–63 winners and NCAA champions for the first time since their back-to-back titles under Billy Donovan in 2006 and 2007.

“I just dove on it, heard the buzzer go,” Condon said. “Didn’t feel real. Crazy feeling.”

Until the final three minutes, Houston had been in control. One of the slowest teams in all of college basketball, the game was played the grind-it-out pace where they thrive. The Cougars had committed just four turnovers through the first 36 minutes and 35 seconds. Then, in a collapse as swift as it was shocking, they turned the ball over five times in the final 3:24 – including on each of their final four possessions.

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That doomed stretch:

• 1:21 – Joseph Tugler stripped in the paint

• 0:52 – LJ Cryer lost the ball under pressure

• 0:26 – Sharp dribbled the ball off his leg in a triple-team trap

• 0:00 – Sharp dropped the ball on the final play, unable to recover without traveling

Over that span, the Cougars didn’t attempt a single shot.

“Incomprehensible in that situation,” Sampson said. “We didn’t need a three. We just needed a good look. And we didn’t even get a shot off.”

For a program defined by its late-game toughness all season, the meltdown was uncharacteristic – and heartbreaking. Right up there with 1983.

“That’s been a strength of ours all year long, was winning close games,” Sampson said. “But tonight we didn’t.”

Clayton, who didn’t score until nearly 15 minutes remained, finished with 11 points and the game’s defining defensive play.

“We work on that stuff in practice,” he said. “Jumping to the side so you don’t foul the shooter, staying down on pump fakes. He pump faked, threw the ball down, and Do [Condon] got on it. We won the game.”

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For Houston’s seniors, the loss cut deep.

“I wanted it so bad for him,” J’Wan Roberts said, speaking about Sampson, who at 69 would’ve become the oldest coach to win a national title. “So, so, so bad. And it hurts. This was my last time wearing the jersey, and I feel terrible.”

LJ Cryer, who led all scorers with 19 points, was still processing the ending.

“We thought this was a game that if we played well, we could win,” he said. “And we did play well. We just didn’t play very good the last three minutes.”

Golden, who became the youngest coach to win a national title since Jim Valvano vanquished Phi Slama Jama in 1983, knew the Gators had to make plays on the margins. And they did.

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“Down the stretch, we just made some big-time winning plays defensively,” he said. “That last play was absolutely an amazing play. Walter recovered, closed out without fouling, and Condo did what he does – got physical, dove on the floor, made a winning play.”

That was the difference: four final possessions, four turnovers, zero shots. And one more play for the Gators.