Going into Sunday night, I was a little more than worried because it just felt like everything was converging. The “Kelvin can’t coach the tournament” narrative was in full swing. UH had fallen out of the tournament is worse rounds since the Final Four run. A&M were also an incredibly hot team. I saw somewhere that in the month of March A&M were the sixth best team in the country. And it’s hard to beat a team twice in a year, especially a team that almost won the first time. All of this converging at the same time felt a lunar eclipse of a very bad night.
I did have some hope when I learned Jack Easterby was in the crowd, fresh off working to ruin the Texans.
Maybe there is a part of me, after hearing about the NC State loss for years, that posits UH can fail in these situations. Maybe its the Houston sports fan still stuck in a past (in my lifetime) oh a losing culture, even if that’s changed. There’s also something about a UH chip – a chip Jim Nantz talked about in the postgame – that makes me want UH to succeed on every level.
So, that’s why, when that final regulation time three hit, I was devastated. Sure, in some sense I’m a believer. But I’m more of a pessimist than anything. So like the good people on Coogfans, I had decided it was over. And for the 30 or so minutes of gutteral pain and panicked walks and possible heart palpitations I was proven so so incorrect. And there so many reasons for it.
Aggie Ball
There have been a lot of people and accounts that have been quite cordial to the Aggies. I will do no such thing. Because Texas A&M University annoys me. And it’s not one of those “you hate us because you ain’t us” or “oh you didn’t get in” moments. The entire university’s general hubris that’s deeply seeded into the soul of Aggie boastfulness drives me crazy. There is no world where I wanted to lose to them. I could write a whole blog on how I think Texas A&M has overtaken UT for most annoying university in Texas. My favorite series of posts is when everyone in America gets reminded how the Aggies act in public.
Anyway, back to basketball.
I’d like to thank two A&M representatives for helping UH in this game. First, of course, is Wade Taylor. I mean sure he scored 21 points, but thank God this man forgot how to shoot a basketball. Scratch that, he knew how to shoot a basketball. His basketball IQ is the same as a graduate from Texas A&M (I had to fit one Aggie joke in). There were threes he took during the game that I have no clue how he thought they would go in. Just a masterclass in bad decision making. Some junior high coach out there needs to be a bring the team in for Wade Taylor film analysis of what not to do.
I’d also like to thank Buzz Williams. Awful Coaching on YouTube seems to think he has put on a horrible defensive coaching performance. (I discovered him during the post-Kentucky fallout, and I have been binging his channel ever since).
No, I’d like to thank Buzz for calling that last time out, while his player was driving to the basket. That would have been an and 1 too. Just how the game was going at that moment. But no, for some reason, he called a timeout. This may be a reference too European for most people, but he Pep Guardiola-ed himself out of possibly winning that game. I genuinely have watched that back a couple times, and still don’t understand what he was thinking. He also didn’t seem to indicate to any of the players that he was about to call a timeout.
Just a dumb decision.
Also this was an all-time ball don’t lie game. Below I detail whether or not the refs should be allowed to live in the United States (hint: no). But the way the Aggies were shooting those free throws, I think the universe righted itself from the horrible calls. Anyway, here’s a song for Buzz Williams in the off season when he hits the gym.
At the end of the day UH gave A&M what it really loves – a moral victory. That’s why it ran away to the SEC and that’s why it’s going to run away to the Big 10 in a couple years.
Elvinposting for UH
I’ll call this last section the Ryan Elvin section. Look, I love Ryan Elvin. My sister dubbed him her “Victorian child” and I have fully picked up on that. My friend even sent this picture of Elvin from Memphis with the caption, “Ask for the Victorian child and you shall receive”.
This is all to say that I genuinely enjoy Elvin. Everyone who speaks about him speaks incredibly highly of him. Kelvin even said that he had nothing but faith when Elvin went in last night. But, when I saw Shead coming out and in the background saw Elvin walking to check in, I thought I needed to immediately be checked into a hospital for schizophrenia. He only comes in when the game is so put away we can just start chucking up threes. Also, turns out the gambling community hates him.
I’m not saying I didn’t believe, I just am aware of certain teammate limitations. The time Elvin hit a three against Kansas was probably the loudest I ever heard the Fertitta Center. But Elvin was sitting all game before he came into the game (outside of the halftime warmup) and he went to the Mark Titus school of playing. To be fair to Elvin, he has played more than Mark Titus. So, I didn’t think it was going to be okay.
I knew it was going to be okay when I saw how everyone on the court reacted to Elvin. I wrote a second ago about how everyone on the UH team seems to believe so fully in Elvin. Every time he hits a shot the entire UH bench loses their minds, finding themselves in all sort of celebrations.
We all know how the story ends, so there’s no need for me to recount my feelings during the moment. I would also like to point out that Mylik Wilson and Ramone Walker played huge parts in securing the victory. But, in that, I’m ecstatic that the entire nation has learned about Elvin.
Also, No Context College Basketball has learned about Elvin. So if you want to be inundated with pics of everyone’s favorite Victorian child, have a look through the account.
“Live”
I’ve posted the Ted Lasso clip before where he tells the good fans of Fulham to follow the refs home and live.
After last night’s performance, I was convinced that someone was about to post that head ref’s address online. I saw some Aggies saying that the refs were even handed (or even going against the Aggies). These people are blind and should not be driving. Nor reproducing. They are insane people and are a testament to why we should bring asylums back. The was a disasterclass on par with Angel Hernandez. Turns out this ref just hates physical basketball.
Here are the words my father had for the refs last night (he is a ref):
White ref with the hair fouls out the big 12 player of the year in a no call. The quickest held ball called at the end of regulation in the history of basketball when Malik had possession. That ref blew so many calls he was terrible. And every call went to A&M. He has to be a graduate from there
My personal Gene Steratore
If that jumpball had decided the game, I genuinely think I would have made January 6th look like a Playmobil reenactment. Mylik Wilson had the ball for maybe half a second, before an A&M player slightly touched a ball. I’ve seen a lot of bad calls, across all sports, in my time. This may be the worst.
That doesn’t even count for all the other horrible calls. Like really, how does this team go all year without something like this happening (I’m not counting Xavier), and then all of a sudden it magically does. I’ve watched a fair amount of UH basketball this year, and it felt like a relatively normal game in terms of how UH played. I wasn’t seeing any sort of egregious play that I hadn’t seen before. By even writing this blog I have actually been called for a foul and A&M will be going to the line.
For those who watched you don’t need me going through every foul. There’s a part of me who wants to go back through the game and identify every horrible foul. But I don’t have 24 hours to full spare. I hope those refs are relegated to whatever conference totally real Grand Canyon University is in.
Cardiac Coogs
This moniker is usually associated with UH Football, but last night was a full Cardiac Coog moment. Do you know that feeling when the blood rushes from your face and your body goes cold? That’s exactly what happened on that buzzer beater three. I looked at the screen, jaw locked in the same position for minutes. It was a horrible moment, because in all the hope I had for an arms length game, all the narratives popped in my head.
Someone at UH needs to offer nitroglycerin pills to the entire fan base in case this happens again. It was almost the second time in my life that I was in cardiac arrest. Just the worst moment. Because going into the game it just felt too perfect for an upset. Even the commentators made it seem like A&M was destined to win this game. Oh and don’t forget the curse of both Drake and Ted Cruz. Turns out having Jim Nantz in the crowd cancels that all out.
I don’t think I would have been able to see A&M people for months. I wouldn’t have gone online. The postgame Reddit thread would have killed me. I’m going to a wedding next month, and some of my great friends who are Aggies will be there. I wouldn’t have gone. Because I know there would have been chirping, and I couldn’t have dealt with that. UT I could take; not A&M. But like the Astors losing the AL West, I guess we’ll never know.
I wanted to end the blog to bring everything back to Reggie Chaney. The team wearing #32 patches. Kelvin invoking him at halftime. And Jamal Shead bringing him up to Jon Rothstein. Surviving and advancing for Reggie.
Follow Moon Stamp Sports on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook, and follow Jorden on Twitter/X.
