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Houston has disastrous final possession, fails to get off shot against Florida
By Mark Kern
Published:
Houston led Florida for much of the game of the game during Monday night’s championship game, but this time, it was the Cougars on the wrong end of a comeback as the Gators erased a 12-point deficit to win the national championship, 65-63.
The game was eerily similar to the Final Four Game against Duke. In that game, the Blue Devils got the ball down 1 with 19 seconds left, and the Cougars got the stop. On Monday night, it was the Cougars trailing with the ball late.
Denzel Aberdeen made 1-of-2 free throws for Florida to give the Gators a 65-63 lead, and Kelvin Sampson called his final timeout to draw a play. However, the Cougars weren’t able to execute, and didn’t even get a shot up.
Houston didn’t even come close to getting a shot, as the spacing and timing was messed up from the very beginning. Emanuel Sharp went to get up a 3-pointer, but a great closeout by the Gators forced him to turn the ball over.
It ends what was a special season for the Cougars, as Kelvin Sampson was that close to becoming the oldest head coach to ever win a national title. Houston ends the season with a 35-5 record.
