"Incomprehensible...We didn't need the 3": Kelvin Sampson gets candid on Emmanuel Sharp's fumble that cost Houston the NCAA title

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson failed to lead his No. 1-seeded Cougars to their first national championship on Monday evening after they lost 65-63 to the No. 1-seeded Florida Gators. The Cougars gave up a 12.0-point lead in the second half to succumb to the harrowing loss in the last minute.

Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp gave up two costly turnovers in the final minute, including a 28-yard attempt from beyond the arc that allowed the Gators to run out the clock.

During his postgame news conference, Sampson shared his consternation that his team could not get off a shot in their last three possessions.

"Just going through those last two possessions more than anything else," Kelvin Sampson said (9:00 onwards). "It's incomprehensible in that situation we couldn't get a shot. We're down two, and obviously, we didn't need a three but with Emanuel, we were struggling to score the entire second half. We got good looks but Florida was doing a good job running us off the line and forcing us to score it.

"But, we just didn't do a very good job of finishing some shots. You've got to give Florida credit too. I'm not gonna sit up here and poor mouth and pity mouth them. We held that team to 65 points. We had a good plan. We just didn't score well enough to win. We scored it well enough to be in a position to win but at the end, you've gotta get a shot."

Kelvin Sampson rues missed opportunity

The Houston Cougars had control of the national championship game against the Florida Gators, but four costly turnovers in the last two minutes turned around what looked like a certain win.

The Gators' comeback had echoes of the Cougars' comeback against the Duke Blue Devils in the Final Four and Florida only led for 63 seconds in the whole game, highlighting the lead that Sampson's team let slip.

During his postgame conference, Sampson rued his team's missed chance to be crowned champions.

"There's a lot of teams that are not built for six straight wins," Sampson said. "This team was, this team was built, this team had the character and the toughness and the leadership. This team was built to win this tournament, and that's why it's so disappointing. We got here and had a chance and just didn't get it done."

With their second-half collapse, Kelvin Sampson's team allowed the Florida Gators to record the third-biggest comeback in the history of the national championship game.