Ad Disclosure
Kelvin Sampson explains how Houston’s final possession fell apart in loss to Florida
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Houston had the ball with one final shot to tie or win Monday’s national title game vs. Florida, and head coach Kelvin Sampson thought he had the right play dialed up for his Cougars. Instead, Emanuel Sharp turned the ball over after jumping in the air and getting lost in no-man’s land.
Alex Condon dove on the ball, and the clock ran out, sending the Gators to their 3rd national title and first since 2007. On the flip side, it furthers Houston’s streak without a title, running its stretch to 7 Final Four appearances without a national championship.
After the game, Kelvin Sampson was asked how things fell apart in the final seconds for Houston. The head coach admitted the Cougars had to be better with the game on line, failing to even get a shot at the basket.
“At the end, you’ve got to get a shot. That’s — you’ve gotta do better than that,” conceded Sampson.
As a follow-up, Sampson was asked what the final play was designed for. Sampson explained the idea was for Sharp to get into the lane, and he felt the idea was for Sharp to use a shot fake instead of attempting a deep 3.
“We have a set where it’s a stack or gate, and we thought if we could get Emanuel a shot fake and get downhill. I’ll have to look back at the film, I don’t know if the ball slipped out of his hands or — he probably should’ve shot faked that,” Sampson revealed. “… Clayton made a good play on that, but that’s why you’ve got to shot fake and get into the paint. A 2 is fine.”
Houston certainly let a golden opportunity slip through its fingers, but no one will be able to take anything away from Todd Golden and his Gators. After trailing by 12 points in the 2nd half, Florida mounted another epic rally to hoist the trophy as the champions of March Madness.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
