Stunning exit in ’18 motivates Cougars
As March Madness begins, the Houston Cougars can’t seem to escape a cruel reminder of just how close they were.
No, not the dunk in the final seconds by North Carolina State’s Lorenzo Charles to deny UH the 1983 national championship, although that remains a moment frozen in time, replayed each year as part of any NCAA Tournament highlight reel.
Still fresh is the heartbreak of how last year’s
NCAA run ended. Up by two with 3.6 seconds left, UH missed a pair of free throws that would have advanced it to the Sweet 16. Michigan drew up an inbounds play, and Jordan Poole drilled a deep 3pointer at the buzzer to stun the Cougars 64-63.
The UH bench sat in complete shock.
Devin Davis laid face down on the court, just a few feet from where Michigan players had a dogpile celebration.
“Every day,” senior guard Corey Davis Jr. responded when asked how often he thinks about that final play. “I honestly think about how everything went every single day. It’s been my fuel to get better as an individual and try and get this team as good as it can possibly get.”
As another NCAA appearance awaits the third-seeded Cougars (31-3) in Friday’s opener against No. 14 seed and Sun Belt champion Georgia State (24-9) in Tulsa, Okla., the painful memory of last year’s second-round loss serves as a cautionary tale for a team that many believe could make a Final Four run.
“Biggest thing we can do is try not to put ourselves in that situation again,” junior guard Armoni Brooks said. “It’s March — miracles do happen. A lot of crazy things happen in March. The more we can just get a little more separation to where one shot can’t beat us, it will keep us out of any crazy predicament.”
As with the ’83 game, UH players cannot escape their place in one of those can-you-believe-thatjust-happened NCAA Tournament moments. They see it (or hear about it) on television. In a more direct way for this generation, they are “tagged” on social media, where it is nearly impossible to miss.
“You just relive it,” senior point guard Galen Robinson Jr. said. “I see the picture all the time. I see the shot all the time. I put it in the back of my head, but I definitely use it as fuel.”
Brooks said he did not go back and watch the play.
“I would go back and watch our reactions to it,” he said. “Everyone was in a lot of pain. Just how we thought we had (the game) sealed and to see it change in what seemed like a half-second.”
Even those who were not on campus or on the team at the time learned quickly how the heartbreaker would serve as a sort of rallying cry for this season.
“As soon as I got on campus, the whole conversation was to get back and go further than what they did,” freshman guard Nate Hinton said.
“I could feel the devastation from everybody and the feeling everybody had,” said redshirt sophomore DeJon Jarreau.
This time around, Brooks said, the motivation stems from sending out this year’s senior class on a high note. So far, the Cougars have done just that, winning 31 games (one shy of matching the school single-season record), climbing into the top 10 of the national polls at one point, and winning an outright American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
“We’ve got a great group of seniors,” Brooks said. “We don’t want to send them out like we sent out last year’s seniors. Last year we had a pretty good team, and I felt we could have made it to the second weekend. A few messups here and there, and we came home earlier than we wanted to.”
Going into Friday’s opener, Robinson said the Cougars are vigilant not to look past Georgia State, which four years ago upset third-seeded Baylor in the first round.
“You can never take anything for granted,” Robinson said. “If we don’t come with it, we can end up coming home Saturday morning. I want this season to last forever. I don’t want it to ever end.”
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s practice inside the Guy V. Lewis Development Facility, the Cougars gathered in a circle near midcourt. In unison they yelled: “Advance!”
“Coach (Kelvin Sampson) always says sometimes through your darkest moments come your brightest lights,” Robinson said.
As the Cougars turn the page from last season, they can only hope brighter days are ahead in this year’s NCAA Tournament.