The Florida Gators defeated the Houston Cougars, 65-63, in the NCAA Tournament men’s national championship game on Monday in San Antonio.
For the Gators (36-4), it was their third national championship all-time. For the Cougars (35-5), they walked away from their seventh Final Four without a national title, the most of any school all-time.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
MY GOODNESS THAT ENDING
Well, the ending to this game didn’t top Saturday’s night end, but I can say I’ve never seen that before in a national title game, or any sort of decisive basketball game.
You feel for Emanuel Sharp, but the Gators did such a great job of closing out that the shot clearly would have been blocked.
Florida won this game with that defensive adjustment. The Cougars are the best 3-point shooting team in the country, and the Gators knew they couldn’t just let them fire away. So, Florida used its mobile bigs to help them defend the 3-point line. You saw it several times, as the Gators sent back 3-point attempts from deep.
It became so influential that the Cougars became a dribble-drive team for most of the second half. Houston had just five assists, which means Florida’s defense influenced the Cougars, though it took time for that influence to rise to the top.
What really stuck out to me was that Houston had the same problem in the Big 12 championship game against Arizona and adjusted for it. In that game, instead of having his bigs set screens up top after being frustrated in the first half, head coach Kelvin Sampson had his guards set those screens in the second half for each other. It neutralized the impact of players like Henri Veesaar.
Houston stuck with bringing their bigs up to screen and that made it easier for Florida’s bigs to help defend on the perimeter. The Gators kept pushing the Cougars further and further away from where they wanted to be offensively, and down the stretch, they made uncharacteristic errors, especially driving to the basket.
Neither team shot well from the 3-point line. Both were well below their season averages. But Florida’s defensive influence late took away Houston’s strongest weapon, the one that could have made the difference.
HOW HOUSTON NEARLY WON
I felt for the first 25 minutes of the game, Houston imposed its will on Florida in every respect. I didn’t think the Cougars would hold Walter Clayton Jr. to just 11 points, but they did. And they did it just the way Charles Barkley talked about it during pre-game — run double-teams at him, make him give up the ball, and don’t let him get it back.
For a half, it worked like a charm. He exerted little influence on the game, and the Cougars took control because they shot well, rebounded well, and turned Florida over nine times in the first 16 minutes (Florida finished with 13).
Fortunately, the Gators picked up for Clayton. Will Richard (18 points) and Alex Condon (12 points) had great games. That allowed them to stay in it.
Florida nearly lost it in the first four minutes of the second half too. The Gators were committing unnecessary fouls and even landed a technical foul early in the second half. The break in composure gave Houston an opening and it eventually built a 12-point lead.
But Florida turned it around. Houston’s only big offensive game came from L.J. Cryer, who scored 19 points. Sharp and J’Wan Roberts had moments. But it wasn’t quite enough.
Houston finally faced an opponent in this tournament that had one more possession in them than the Cougars did.
GONNA NEED THIS ON A POSTER
My goodness, Ja’Vier Francis.
Another angle, you say? Here you go.
Man, you gotta feel for the guy. He was just trying to contest.
Thank you sir, may I please have another? Sure, you got it.
Ok, enough of that. But you know that’s going to be in “One Shining Moment,” regardless. (actually it wasn’t, which was surprising).
HOUSTON’S LEGACY
Earlier this season, we learned that Houston became the first team in nearly a century to win a conference championship in each of their first two seasons in a new league. The Cougars were built for the Big 12.
Houston hadn’t lost a game since Feb. 1 against Texas Tech. In two seasons in the Big 12 the Cougars have lost five Big 12 games in the regular season and in the Big 12 Tournament combined. Houston is also 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
This game was Houston’s chance to pay back Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Elvin Hayes, and Don Chaney, stars from previous Cougars teams that went to the Final Four and came up short. Olajuwon and Drexler lost this game for two straight years.
Sampson did it completely differently than Guy V. Lewis back in the day. And it worked.
Houston has been a special team for the past two seasons. The Cougars have been doing Kansas-level stuff in the Big 12 and on the national stage. This is an opportunity lost for Sampson, for his players, for his program and the city of Houston. This one is going to sting for a while.
But something tells me, even in this transfer portal/NIL era, that the Cougars will be back before Sampson decides to step aside.
SASQUATCH STATE?
Sometimes, in-game interviews get you nothing. Sometimes they get you made-up schools.
Ok, so there is no actual Sasquatch State. But there is Sasquatch University, a Canadian TV show. It’s a Wild TV Network program that dives into the phenomenon of Bigfoot in Canada.
The judges accept. They would have also accepted Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
