Emanuel Sharp needed to be consoled after Houston’s heartbreaking nationwide championship sport loss on Monday night time — nevertheless it won’t have been from who he anticipated.
The Cougars’ guard was down along with his arms over his face as the ultimate buzzer sounded on the 65-63 loss to the Florida Gators on the Alamodome within the last sport of March Insanity.
Houston let a 12-point second-half lead slip away and Sharp’s teammates have been making an attempt to console him, whose choice within the last seconds sealed the Cougars’ destiny.
The CBS cameras caught Gators star Walter Clayton Jr. coming over to Sharp and placing his arm round him and saying one thing to the Houston participant, presumably to try to elevate his spirits.
“My heart breaks for Emanuel Sharp,” CBS Sports activities school basketball insider Jon Rothstein mentioned in the course of the postgame present. “I think back to moments in this tournament that we look back on. … My heart breaks for Emanuel Sharp.”
The guard was seemingly feeling the additional sting of the second, having made the odd choice to bounce the ball moderately than take an opportunity at a 3-pointer with the seconds ticking away within the sport.
With slightly below 5 seconds left within the sport, Sharp had the possibility on the long-distance 3-pointer, however handed on the shot and slammed the ball on the court docket.
Since Sharp selected to try this, he couldn’t contact the ball in any other case; that might have been a turnover.
However, the choice led to a turnover anyway regardless of a last-ditch effort by a second Houston participant to seize the ball.
Time expired, and the Gators captured their first nationwide championship since 2007.
Clayton completed the sport with 11 factors, seven assists and 5 rebounds within the nationwide title win over the Cougars and he was named Most Excellent Participant of the match.
Sharp had shot simply 3-for-11 for Houston within the loss and completed the sport with eight factors, three rebounds and one help.
