For long minutes of the second half, it seemed that Houston would finally achieve the long-awaited title in the NCAA Basketball Championship. The “Cougars” were up by 12 points, but when the confetti fell on the court of the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, it was the Florida players who celebrated.
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The “Gators” were only ahead on the scoreboard for 64 seconds in the game, but it was enough to win the third title in their history in “March Madness”.
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How was Houston’s debacle against Florida?
Walter Clayton Jr. was the Florida figure who, in some way, managed to overcome Houston’s crushing defense at the end to achieve a 65-63 victory.
Houston had only turned the ball over four times in the first 36 minutes and 35 seconds of the game, but then came a shocking collapse where they turned the ball over five times in the final 3:24, including on each of their last four possessions.
In the final play of the game, when they were two points down, Emanuel Sharp stopped in the middle of his motion while trying to shoot a game-winning three-pointer in the last seconds thanks to Clayton’s great defense. Sharp dropped the ball and, unable to pick it up to avoid being called for traveling, watched it bounce as the clock hit zero and the Florida players ran wild to celebrate.
How many finals has Houston lost?
Houston’s feeling of defeat, having beaten the heavy favorite Duke in the Final Four semifinals, is doubly bitter as it brings to mind the two losses in the 1983 and 1984 finals.
Those memorable “Cougars” teams were led by Hakeem Olajuwon, and in 1983, Clyde Drexler also stood out (that same year he went to the NBA). However, they were first surprisingly defeated by North Carolina State and then by Georgetown with Patrick Ewing to prevent them from lifting the title as college basketball champions.
This time it was the Florida Gators who made the University of Houston suffer.