SAN ANTONIO — Towels covered the faces of Houston’s teary-eyed players.
The locker room was as silent as a library, interrupted only by a scream tinged with agony.
The top-seeded Cougars’ national championship dream came up painfully short — in the final seconds of Monday night’s showdown against fellow No. 1 Florida.
Twice in the final half-minute, Houston had a chance to go ahead, and both times those possessions resulted in an Emanuel Sharp turnover — two possessions that will haunt this team for years to come after this 65-63 loss at the Alamodome.
“I’m just going through those last two possessions more than anything else,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Incomprehensible in that situation we couldn’t get a shot [off].”
Two nights ago, Sharp was one of the heroes of Houston’s riveting comeback against Duke, hitting a 3-pointer with 33.3 seconds left that ignited a rally from six points down with just over a half-minute to go.
Monday night, the junior guard — Houston’s second-leading scorer — dribbled the ball out of bounds with 26.6 seconds to go.
After Denzel Aberdeen split two free throws to push the Florida lead to two, the Cougars had another shot. Sharp came off a screen for a 3-point attempt, but Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. was right there.
Sharp had already left his feet, so he dropped the ball to keep the play alive.
Had he touched it, it would’ve been a traveling violation.
Gators forward Alex Condon dove for the ball.
The clock expired as players desperately tried to gain possession.
A heartbroken Sharp collapsed on the floor as Gators celebrated around him.
“We’ve been working for this the whole year, the moment we’ve been waiting for. Coming down to the last game,” Houston forward Joseph Tugler said. “I know it’s going to hurt, break everybody’s heart.”
The Cougars led almost the entire game.
They held a 12-point advantage early in the second half.
Florida didn’t lead in the second half until Alijah Martin hit two free throws with 46.6 seconds left. Houston was ahead for 30:44 of game time.
In the end, it was the latest painful finish for Houston, which has been bedeviled in recent years by injuries.
Monday night, the Cougars came up two points short.
“Sad, disappointed. I’m at a loss for words,” Houston guard Terrance Arceneaux. “In a game like that, that close, it felt like we had control of it the whole game and we just let it go.
“A lot of emotions. Sad time for us. Ain’t really much that can be said. You’re a couple of stops from winning it. It’s hard to say anything.”
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