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The Houston basketball team was one of the best and most consistent teams in the country all year long, and they came incredibly close to capturing the national championship on Monday night. The Cougars had the lead for most of the game, but Florida came back down the stretch and found a way to earn the win. The season is now over, and Houston finished with a 35-5 record. They played in 40 games this season, and they didn't lose any games by more than five points.
“Houston is the first team in Division I history to play 40+ games in a season and not suffer a defeat by more than 5 points,” OptaSTATS said in a post. “It still wasn't enough to bring home a national title.”
The Cougars lost five games this year as they fell to Auburn, Alabama, San Diego State, Texas Tech and Florida. The Auburn and Alabama defeats were the biggest of the year as they both beat the Cougars by five points. Three of Houston's losses also came in overtime. This team was in every single game this year and very easily could've won every game that they lost. Unfortunately, one of those close heartbreakers happened to come in the biggest game of them all.
Houston was in complete control of the national championship for a good portion of the contest. The Cougars created a little bit of separation in the first half, but they really started to pull away during the opening minutes of the second half.
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The lead for the Houston basketball team was only three at halftime, but it ballooned up to 12 within the first few minutes of the second half. Both teams struggled offensively to start the game, but they started to settle in in the late stages of the first half. The Cougars were starting to find a groove to begin the second half, and they had the Florida offense completely locked up. It looked like Houston was going to win the national championship.
Florida had already orchestrated a couple of big comebacks during their March Madness run, and one of them just happened on Saturday in the Final Four. The Gators had one more up their sleeve on Monday night. They tied the game with around eight minutes to go, and that made for an exciting finish. Houston found a way to get the lead back, but Florida hung around until they finally took the lead with under one minute to go.
Houston got the ball back with a chance to tie or get the win on their final possession as they trailed by two, but they never even got a shot up. Florida won the game, and an impressive Houston basketball season ended in heartbreak.
