Houston’s Emanuel Sharp was consoled by his Cougar teammates and Florida‘s Walter Clayton Jr. after his near-up-and-down travel no shot to be taken during the national championship game’s final possession.
Sharp had the chance to take a long-distance 3-pointer with under five seconds remaining in the game but pulled the ball down to the court, opting not to take the shot.
Sharp could not touch the ball, or else it would be a turnover, leading to the clock running out and the Cougars losing the national title.
In Houston’s penultimate offensive possession of the game, Sharp also failed at the critical moment, losing his dribble off his leg and turning the ball over to Florida.
The Gators defeated the Cougars 65-63, overcoming a 12-point deficit to take down the Big 12 Champions, denying Kelvin Sampson his first national title as a head coach.
Sharp was one of Houston’s best players all season long. Now, his season may be best remembered for how it finished, not his efforts to lead the school to a national-title appearance.
Emanuel Sharp was consoled by his Cougar teammates after his massive mistake
Sharp’s late error did not allow Houston to get a shot off on the final possession of the game
Only one Houston player scored in double-digits, L.J. Cryer, who finished the game with 19 points.
Sharp finished the game with 8 on 3-for-11 shooting, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
That clip from beyond the arc makes Sharp’s decision to take the long-range shot with his team’s season on the line all the more audacious.
Sharp was in tears on the Alamodome court and leaving view from the San Antonio venue.
Maybe the only silver lining for Sharp is that he has not exhausted all of his eligibility and can return to play for Houston next season and gain some retribution.
The Cougars led for a heavy majority of the game, continuing with Florida’s comeback theme of the entire tournament.
In only the Gators’ games against Maryland and Norfolk State, Florida did not trail by several points or more. Florida struggled in parts against UConn, Texas Tech, Auburn, and Houston.
Yet, the closing memory from the March Madness finale will be the lack of a shot on the final possession from Sharp.
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Sharp in his teammates walked off the court in agony after losing the national championship
Sharp realized his huge mistake on the play, but it was too late to correct his awful error
One college basketball fan on social media joked that the NCAA should investigate Sharp, as he hails from Tampa, Florida.
Tons of videos and memes at Sharp’s expense were posted to social media quickly after his flub, including one of WWE wrestler Kevin Owens hitting himself in the face with a steel chair.
Another person posted a clip from the documentary ‘Beyond Scarred Straight’ of how Houston’s teammates felt about Sharp in the final moments.
After his awful error, and confetti started to fall after Florida’s win, Sharp did not move from his crouched position for nearly 30 seconds.
Even with television cameras in his face, he did not move to join the handshake line until he was propped up by teammate Ja’Vier Francis.
Sharp averaged 12.8 points per game this season, with only 0.8 turnovers a contest. He picked a brutal moment to lose his composure, as his flub was the closing shot of the college basketball season.