Roberts and Cryer Leave Houston Heartbroken but Proud After Title-Game Loss to Florida

SAN ANTONIO — For J'Wan Roberts and L.J. Cryer, pride arrived only after the sting of defeat. The University of Houston's two graduate-student leaders saw their final games end Monday night at the Alamodome, where Florida beat the Cougars 65-63 in the national championship game.

Roberts had hoped to close his career with a title in his 173rd and last game for the program. Instead, the player with a program-record 149 wins fell one short of 150, as Houston's chance at its first national championship slipped away in the final minute.

While the Gators celebrated on the court and cut down the nets, Roberts and Cryer faced reporters at the podium. They are among four seniors leaving the team, along with reserves Ja'Vier Francis and Mylik Wilson.

Roberts, a native of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, moved to Killeen in eighth grade hoping to earn a basketball scholarship. He thanked coach Kelvin Sampson and the staff for believing in him over six seasons. "I'll always be a Cougar," said Roberts, whose late free throws had supplied the winning points against Duke in Saturday's semifinal. "No matter how you try to shape it, I'm always going to be a Cougar, this is always going to be my home."

Roberts said he had wanted the title badly for Sampson, whom he called "a second father," and who was seeking his first national championship and 800th career win. "I wanted it so bad for him," Roberts said. Sampson, who brought the lightly recruited Roberts to Houston in 2019, said the 23-year-old had grown from "everybody's little brother" into a leader over the past two years.

Roberts struggled to score in the title game, shooting 3-of-13 from the field, though he led all players with eight rebounds. Sampson said it was simply not his night, pointing to Florida's physical play as he drove to the basket and to several shots that rimmed out.

Cryer, a Katy native and Morton Ranch graduate, spent two seasons at Houston after three at Baylor, where he was part of the 2021 national championship team in a reserve role. He had been seeking to become the first player to win national titles at two schools. Sampson said Cryer took on a leadership role this season after two overtime losses at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas dropped the Cougars to 4-3.

Cryer said he arrived in Houston with his confidence shaken after three foot surgeries, and credited the coaches, including assistant Quannas White, with encouraging him to play freely. "Just been the best year of my life so far," he said. "So yeah, I'm just proud to be a Cougar."

Cryer led all scorers with 19 points and was Houston's only player in double figures. His putback gave the Cougars a 62-60 lead with 2:29 remaining, but the team managed just one more point over the final 149 seconds. The loss also kept Houston as the program with the most Final Four appearances, seven, without a national title. "It didn't end the way we wanted it to," Cryer said, "but we've just got to hold our heads high because we did accomplish a lot."