SAN DIEGO—Everyone thought the shot would go down.

Alabama players and coaches were sure the game would be tied.

Marquette head coach Tom Crean knew it would drop.

Even the guy that hoisted the shot up — Steve Novak himself — was sure his three-pointer with 12 seconds left would drain into the net, giving his Golden Eagles the tie Thursday night.

Alas, it didn't.

And Marquette's season ended with a 90-85 loss to Alabama in San Diego State University's Cox Arena.

The Golden Eagles might have waved goodbye to the NCAA tournament in the worst way, knowing they had a chance to tie the game with the ball in the hands of their best shooter.

Even Alabama players know they might've gotten away with one.

"I thought he was going to make it," said Alabama guard Ronald Steele. "My heart stopped when he got open."

And Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried concurred.

"I thought he would make it," he said. "That's just one of those things in the game. He had a great look, he's a great shooter — he'll probably dream about that shot."

The missed shot came at the end of a furious Marquette second-half rally.

Down by 14 at the break, Marquette players rallied behind their head coach, who gave them a rousing halftime speech.

"What I told my team after the game was first thing, that I've been a part of some great wins and some great teams," Crean said. "(But) I've never been around a group of guys that sold out for each other like they did in the second half."

But speeches don't win games, and neither do teams that afford the other team three 20-point scorers: Jean Felix, Ronald Steele and Jermareo Davidson.

In particular, the Golden Eagles allowed Felix — who came into the game averaging just more than eight points — to score 31.

And he did so with some flare.

He sliced and diced through the lane and drew contact. He peeled off screens to find the thinnest opening. He hit trey after trey after trey — eight in all on 11 attempts — to put the Tide on his back early.

Ironically, his shooting streak came after a two-game run that saw him lose his touch time after time.

"His last two games he was 2-for-15 from the field," Gottfried said. "He really concentrated on his shooting. For us to be good you can't take the shots away from him. He got loose against the zone and made a couple of shots, he got off to a real good start and I thought that was the key."

He also thought that his team's ability to respond to Marquette's run by keeping the game largely in its favor was another crucial element of the win.

"I've told them, 'You're not allowed to be tired,'" Gottfried said. "We learned from losing (leads late). They know what happened at Arkansas and against Kentucky. They didn't want to let that happen again. I told them that we had taken their best shot, and we're still winning. 'Now it's time for you guys to turn it back up a notch. You gotta turn right back and turn it up now.'"