SAN ANTONIO — The basketball, and an impeccably rugged game, went bouncing into dissatisfaction. It hit the floor one, two, three times. Houston guard Emanuel Sharp couldn’t touch it, not after he left the ground and dropped the game-deciding shot as if it were a medicine ball. Trying to avoid a turnover, he hovered over it, helpless.

The leaping defense of Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. had spooked Sharp into a misfire. Florida forward Alex Condon dove to collect the loose ball and shoveled a pass to Clayton, who pranced out the final second. In celebration, Clayton slammed the ball to the heavens.

It was not the ending that this men’s basketball national championship game deserved. But during a capricious time in college athletics, does anything resolve in a clean and fulfilling way?

The game just ended, in mid-drama, sort of like “The Sopranos” finale. Florida won, 65-63, before 66,602 at the Alamodome on Monday night. The Gators became the ninth men’s program to win at least three national titles. The Cougars, 0-3 in championship games, needed heart medication again. But the abrupt ending doesn’t diminish how both programs lifted their troubled sport. The title game showcased two best practices for transcending the current transactional era.

Perhaps Florida and Houston played such a close game because they’re similar. And I’m not talking about their styles of play. Florida may play faster and wear out teams with its depth. Houston may slow down the game and punish opponents with its physicality. But strip them to their essence, and they’re the same.

They’re college programs happy to be college programs. They take the right transfers. They develop undervalued players that they recruit out of high school. At a time when disloyalty gets rewarded with NIL riches, they retain talent and continue to build.

“Now we’re at the point in our program where we want to recruit young guys that are high-character kids that want to be Gators [and], regardless whether they’re playing a lot or not as a freshman, want to stick with us,” Florida Coach Todd Golden said. “Then retaining, retaining, retaining is going to be huge, just like last year.”

These days, college programs often settle. They get what they can get, and in this year-to-year world of rampant transfers, they hope they can avoid sabotaging themselves. Not these teams, however. Their standards are high. Their cultures are rock solid. Their dedication is unassailable.

There sat J’Wan Roberts late Monday night, trying to articulate what it meant to play for Houston and Coach Kelvin Sampson for six years.

“Coach Sampson has been everything to me,” Roberts said. “From Coach Sampson down to his grandkids. Everybody played a part in me being here for six years. I wanted to win so bad for him. So, so, so bad. And it hurts.

“I can’t do it next year. I can’t put myself in position to do it next year. This will be my last time wearing my jersey, and I feel terrible.”

In many ways, Roberts signified the appeal of this matchup. He’s unlikely to play in the NBA. There weren’t many pros on the floor. The Cougars may not have anyone who makes it to the league. Florida has Condon and Clayton, the Final Four’s most outstanding player, who has seen his stock rise. But neither has an easy road to the next level.

This game was the dream, not a luxury, for these players. It was everything. Roberts didn’t play his best. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks, but he missed 10 of his 13 field goal attempts. All of them were contested shots from close range. As he grew into a significant player, he feasted on outhustling and outmuscling opponents. But Florida’s size and strength gave him problems.

“J’Wan has been awesome all year,” Sampson said. “Tonight was not his night.”

It was hardly any player’s night. The defenses were too good. Florida shot 39.6 percent. Houston shot 34.8. Yet it wasn’t a boring, actionless affair. It was a gripping brand of brawny ball. The teams conceded nothing. Players threw around their bodies. The referees swallowed their whistles — in the first half, at least — allowing the Gators and Cougars to set a physical tone. They played with energy, with force, with intent.

It was the perfect night for a distraction. Before tip-off, the courtroom dominated general interest in college sports. Claudia Wilken, the judge overseeing a possible settlement in three antitrust lawsuits that could dramatically change the enterprise, requested for both sides to keep revising the agreement. Finality was pushed back another week.

The industry needed a reprieve. Florida and Houston provided it.

The Gators proved to be the comeback kings of this tournament. They had to rally in four of six games. On Monday, they were down 12 with 15½ minutes remaining, which against Houston must feel like a 22-point deficit with eight minutes left. But this is a team that has learned over three years with Golden to win in incremental steps.

“Our team’s resolve, DNA, we don’t have to give those guys confidence,” Golden said. “You know what I mean? Walter Clayton, confident. Alijah Martin, confident.”

By sending two defenders at Clayton and forcing him to pass, Houston held the all-American scoreless in the first 25 minutes. But he was there at the end, scoring 11 points in the final 15.

As brilliantly as Houston played in the closing minutes against Duke, the Cougars were just as bad in this game. They committed turnovers on their final four possessions. Sharp coughed up the last two, losing the ball on a drive with 26 seconds left before he panicked on the final possession.

“Yeah, I’m just going through those last two possessions more than anything else,” Sampson said. “Incomprehensible in that situation that we couldn’t get a shot.”

Clutch play is Houston’s specialty. The Cougars are built to win tight games. They entered Monday night 33-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.

Instead, they had to watch the Gators come from behind. Houston led for 30 minutes and 44 seconds. But Florida refused to fall apart.

“They’re a worthy champion,” Sampson said.

His team was worthy, too. That belief left the players heartbroken.

“I’m sorry, y’all,” Houston forward Joseph Tugler said. “My head’s spinning. Man, it was right there. It was right there.”

In the Cougars’ minds, it will forever be right there. Their dream just vanished. No last-second shot attempt, no chance for an offensive rebound, no miracle.

Until the end, Florida and Houston gave the sport the title game it needed. Then the ball must’ve turned into a pumpkin in Sharp’s hands.

“The dream has been great,” Roberts said. “A lot of ups and downs. Fought through a lot of adversity. We all stayed together. We all believed in each other. We just came up short. Probably a lot of stuff we wish we could do, but …”

As he walked past Sampson, Roberts squeezed the coach’s shoulder.

The game just ended. It was an incomplete thrill.

What a sad fate. What a strangely fitting moment.

What now for college sports?