SAN ANTONIO – Under a shower of orange and blue confetti inside the Alamodome, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson stood alone behind a black curtain—his gray polo marked by the NCAA National Final pin, his arms folded, his expression heavy with disbelief.
At 69, Sampson had come within inches of his first national championship and 800th career win. Instead, his team’s dream ended with a 65-63 loss to Florida in a gut-wrenching NCAA title game defined by missed chances, late turnovers, and a comeback for the ages.
“This team was built to win this tournament,” Sampson said, trying to make sense of the stunning collapse. “That’s why it’s so disappointing. We had our chance and just didn’t get it done.”
From Comeback Kings to Crushed Contenders
Just 48 hours earlier, Houston pulled off a miracle comeback against Duke in the national semifinal. But on Monday night, they found themselves on the other side of heartbreak—surrendering a 12-point second-half lead and closing the game with four consecutive turnovers. Florida’s rally marked the third-largest comeback in NCAA title game history.
Houston led for all but 63 seconds of the game. Florida’s first lead of the second half came with just 46 seconds remaining—a moment Sampson would later call “incomprehensible.”
The Final Seconds: A Painful Collapse
The Cougars’ last two possessions belonged to star guard Emanuel Sharp—and so did the heartbreak. With 30 seconds left and Houston trailing by one, Sharp drove into the lane only to lose the ball under pressure from Florida’s Will Richard. On the ensuing play, Sharp caught the ball six feet beyond the arc and attempted a last-second shot—but Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. leapt mid-air, cutting off the attempt before it left Sharp’s hands.
As the ball fell to the court, Sharp crumbled with it—hands to his face, elbows on knees, motionless.
“That’s me, bro,” Sharp was overheard saying in the locker room, overwhelmed with emotion. “That’s on me.”
Fellow guard Milos Uzan shielded Sharp from the media, walking him away as he wept under a towel. Nearby, Joseph Tugler summed it up in five words: “That broke everybody’s heart.”
A Coach’s Consolation and a Legacy on Hold
Sampson, ever the leader, focused on praise amid the pain.
“I told him I loved him,” he said of Sharp. “We don’t get here without that kid. He did an awesome job on Clayton.”
Indeed, Sharp’s defense had held Florida’s star to 3-of-10 shooting. But as Sampson admitted, the margin for error at this level is razor-thin. One hesitation, one decision, one deflection—and history swings.
“It Was There for the Taking”
The Cougars’ other late miscues included Tugler fumbling an offensive rebound and L.J. Cryer driving baseline only to gift the ball to Florida’s Alex Condon—whose fourth steal of the night sealed the win.
Cryer, like everyone else in the Houston locker room, wore the sting of regret.
“It was definitely there for the taking,” he said.
Sampson exited the court quickly after the final whistle. In the tunnel, his daughter Lauren embraced him tightly.
“I’m OK,” he told her, even if the look in his eyes said otherwise.
“A Brutal, Cruel Guillotine”
Back in the locker room, assistant coaches sat in stunned silence. Sampson’s son, Kellen, offered a fitting epitaph for the night.
“It’s a brutal, cruel guillotine,” he said. “You don’t get here without toughness, connection, resilience. We did enough to win. So did Florida. They won.”
