In 2002, ESPN’s Bill Simmons penned an epic column titled “The Levels of Losing.” In it, he outlined thirteen different types of losses suffered by teams and — more importantly — their fans. A 2007 update expanded the list out to 16 different levels of losing, ranking them from the pedestrian “Princeton Principle” to the most gut-wrenching level, saved only for Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Not far behind Bill Buckner’s gaffe is The Sports Guy’s third most-excruciating level of losing — “The Stomach Punch.” Simmons describes it as “any roller-coaster game that ends with (A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play or (B) one of your guys failing in the clutch…Usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all.”

Sound familiar, Texas fans?

Sunday’s loss to Arizona in the third round of the NCAA Tournament fit every letter of that description. From Derrick Williams’ improbable no-look and-1 bucket that gave Arizona the final lead, to numerous failures by Longhorn stars in the clutch, Longhorn Nation experienced a massive, unrelenting series of gut punches. We even have the stunned disbelief covered, as your intrepid travelers spent a good portion of the eight-hour drive back to Austin in that very state.

There have been a million words written and spoken about the five-second call that gave Arizona the ball for the winning possession. If you watched the game on television, you likely saw the studio discussions and 8,923 video replays. If you didn’t, feel free to use Google or YouTube — I won’t rehash the debate here. Right or wrong, that call isn’t the only reason Texas lost. As had happened multiple times this season, there was a glaring lack of basketball IQ when the game hung in the balance.

First, the entire five-count sequence was set up by Jordan Hamilton’s inexplicable timeout with 14 seconds left. The Longhorns had a two-point lead when Tristan Thompson blocked a potential game-tying shot from Williams. Hamilton grabbed the loose ball, and the game seemed to be in the bag. All Hamilton had to do was wait for the Arizona foul.

Jordan was a 77.9% free throw shooter this season. Against the Wildcats on Sunday, he was 1-for-2 from the line. If Jordan waits for the foul in that situation, more time ticks off the clock and he then has two opportunities to make it a three-point Longhorn lead. Make both of those, and it’s a two-possession ballgame. Instead, Texas had to inbound the ball against full-court pressure and an unthinkable chain of events was set in motion.

Even after the five-second violation, the Longhorns were still leading by two with 14 seconds to go. The fear in every Texas fan’s mind was that the Wildcats — who had hit 8-of-14 from behind the arc — would drill another three and win the game. But once Williams started driving to the basket, there seemed to be no way Texas could lose in regulation. Until, of course, Hamilton tried to take a charge.

If Hamilton defends the shot straight up and it goes in, the game is tied, but Texas still has the ball and some time to win it. If you want to contest the shot in that situation, you have to make sure you don’t foul, or make sure your foul counts.

Williams was 8-for-14 from the line at that point, so a hard foul not only would have prevented the game-tying basket, but also probably meant that Williams would not have tied it at the line, either. In trying to draw a charge, Hamilton not only let Williams get off a shot, but left the worst-case scenario on the table. That, of course, is exactly what occurred.

After the three-point play, the Longhorns were still left with about nine seconds to try to save a win despite their series of errors. But instead of pushing the ball up the floor, J’Covan Brown calmly walked it up the court, wasting close to five seconds just getting across the timeline. He drove to the right side of the lane, threw up a floater in traffic, and time expired as Gary Johnson fought for a putback.

If Brown races up the floor, the Arizona defense has less time to get set, plus the Longhorns have time to try for a rebound and game-winning putback. Instead, they were left wandering the floor after the final buzzer, arms raised in question as the officials huddled and decided whether or not a foul occurred.

It was a heartbreaking way to end the season, especially after the gritty way the Longhorns had fought back in the second half to finally reclaim the lead. But putting the loss solely at the feet of the officials is a shortsighted conclusion. As was the case in many tense situations this season, the Longhorns failed to make the right decisions. Unfortunately, it finally caught up with them.