Emanuel Sharp had to be consoled after Houston’s heartbreaking national championship game loss on Monday night — but it might not have been from who he expected.
The Cougars’ guard was down with his hands over his face as the final buzzer sounded on the 65-63 loss to the Florida Gators at the Alamodome in the final game of March Madness.
Houston let a 12-point second-half lead slip away and Sharp’s teammates were trying to console him, whose decision in the final seconds sealed the Cougars’ fate.
The CBS cameras caught Gators star Walter Clayton Jr. coming over to Sharp and putting his arm around him and saying something to the Houston player, presumably to try and lift his spirits.
“My heart breaks for Emanuel Sharp,” CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein said during the postgame show. “I think back to moments in this tournament that we look back on. … My heart breaks for Emanuel Sharp.”
The guard was likely feeling the extra sting of the moment, having made the odd decision to bounce the ball rather than take a chance at a 3-pointer with the seconds ticking away in the game.
With just under five seconds left in the game, Sharp had the chance at the long-distance 3-pointer, but passed on the shot and slammed the ball on the court.
Since Sharp chose to do that, he could not touch the ball otherwise; that would have been a turnover.
But, the decision led to a turnover anyway despite a last-ditch effort by a second Houston player to grab the ball.
Time expired, and the Gators captured their first national championship since 2007.
Clayton finished the game with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the national title win over the Cougars and he was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Sharp had shot just 3-for-11 for Houston in the loss and finished the game with eight points, three rebounds and one assist.
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