COLLEGE HOOPS: Houston drops heartbreaker to Tulane in AAC Tournament

University of Houston sophomore guard Rob Gray, Jr. led the team, and the American Athletic Conference, in scoring this season. He scored a team-high 17 points in the 72-69 loss to Tulane in the AAC Championship quarterfinals. less University of Houston sophomore guard Rob Gray, Jr. led the team, and the American Athletic Conference, in scoring this season. He scored a team-high 17 points in the 72-69 loss to Tulane in the AAC ... more Photo: Tony Gaines Photo: Tony Gaines Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close COLLEGE HOOPS: Houston drops heartbreaker to Tulane in AAC Tournament 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

HOUSTON - Tulane shocked the college basketball world Friday at the Amway Center in Orlando, knocking off the number two-seeded Houston Cougars 72-69, becoming the lowest seed (10) to advance to the semifinals in the history of the American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship.

The problems started early for Houston, with senior guard LeRon Barnes missing his first four free throws and the Green Wave - as much as 13-point underdogs in some Vegas sports books - keeping it close all through the first half. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson’s analysis of the early moments of the game matched the murmurings coming from the pro-Houston portions of the crowd.

“Tonight, from the get-go, it didn’t feel right,” Sampson said. “I don’t know why, but it didn’t feel right.”

Nothing broke right for the Cougars all night. A bizarrely slow first half saw 24 fouls called, an even 12 for each team, which obliterated any sense of pace or rhythm for either team. As Houston failed to earn a significant lead, issues the Cougars thought they had put behind them, like free throw consistency, started to creep in. Barnes issued a pointed analysis of the team’s woes in his postgame comments.

“I think we weren’t mentally focused coming in,” Barnes said. “I feel like we didn’t respect the team. Coach has been telling us to play hard, and we didn’t listen.”

The Cougars ultimately shot 50 percent from the free throw line, missing 13 of their 26 attempts, in a game they lost by three points. Barnes, who was 1-for-6 from the charity stripe, acknowledged his part, but alluded to deeper issues.

“I could have done better [from the line],” Barnes said. “I’ll take the blame for that. But as a team, we didn’t rebound as good as we should have, and we didn’t play tough. I feel like we didn’t play tough at all.”

Sampson did not disagree with his guard, and cited the program’s recent and unexpected success - including its status as a two-seed and significant favorite in the game - as stumbling blocks.

“I think there’s a tendency to treat this game different than other games, when really it’s not,” Sampson said. “One of the toughest things for a coach is keeping kids focused when everybody is telling them how great they are.”

The Cougars experienced plenty of accolades down the stretch, winning nine of their last 11 games to end the regular season, knocking off Connecticut and Cincinnati to earn the two-seed headed into the tournament. Sampson suggested that what some might have called momentum may have, in fact, tripped the team up.

“That’s pretty heady stuff for this program, considering where we were a year ago,” Sampson said. “We have come a long way. Now we come here, and it’s a totally different environment. It’s a totally different animal, playing in a conference tournament, especially when so much is on the line.”

The Cougars were more efficient from the field and from behind the arc than Tulane, but the 13 points in missed free throws proved to be their undoing.

“They’re making their free throws, and we’re missing our free throws, and the game’s starting to get a little tighter,” Sampson said. “And all of a sudden, the two seed is playing the 10 seed and human nature starts taking over. That happens. These are human beings. Our kids got a little tight.”

With a disappointing loss, the tendency sometimes is to overlook or forget the season that was. Sampson is helming a rebuilding project that looked last week to be years ahead of schedule, with some pondering whether the Cougars could win the conference tournament to earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

Friday, the Cougars fell short of that lofty goal, but - in defeat - Sampson paused to reflect on what Houston had achieved this year, and it is worth noting that they achieved a 22-8 regular season record after being picked by most pundits to finish seventh in the conference. Sampson made sure to credit his players for what they did accomplish, as much as reflect on what they had not.

“The last month, last six weeks, we have made the plays to win the game,” Sampson said. “These kids have had a great year. I hate that it had to end in the tournament this way, because there’s a tendency to focus on this and not the entire body of work.”

Ever the coach, Sampson hoped that his players will take from this, learn from it and grow from it.

“Sometimes life has hard lessons,” Sampson said. “This is a lesson that they have got to learn. It’s a game we felt like we could have won. But you’ve got to do what it takes to win the game, and we didn’t.”