This one has to hurt.
The one SEC coach and the one SEC team that Anthony Grant had yet to beat were limping, bleeding, there for the taking in Coleman Coliseum.
His mentor, Billy Donovan, and the Florida Gators were a shadow of their Final Four selves from a year ago, the weakest they'd been since Grant had taken over at Alabama.
By the final minute, Alabama had erased every bit of a 13-point halftime deficit, and with the game tied, the Crimson Tide had two possessions to Florida's one. Those possessions went about like you'd expect if you've followed Grant's time in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama's Michael Kessens had a shot blocked at the rim by Florida's Dorian Finney-Smith.
At the other end, Finney-Smith took a pass at the top of the circle, took one quick dribble and two giant steps and threw down a thunderous SportsCenter Play of the Day dunk in Kessens' face. It was Finney-Smith's first, last and only basket of the night.
With a last shot to win or tie, Levi Randolph took the ball to the basket - and had his floater blocked by Finney-Smith.
Alabama lost to Florida 52-50 because, well, Alabama under Grant always loses to Florida under Donovan. In nine meetings, the student has been schooled by the teacher nine times.
There have been achingly close losses like Tuesday night's, and there's been a 27-point blowout in Gainesville - Grant's worst loss at Alabama - with first place in the SEC on the line in 2011.
There's no shame in losing to Florida. The Gators under Donovan have been the most consistent program in the SEC. Grant was an important part of constructing that program as a Donovan assistant for 10 years, but he hasn't been able to build anything close to the same kind of basketball power at another football school.
Tuesday's game was a mirror of Grant's tenure.
His team struggled at the start but battled back, raised people's hopes and then dashed those hopes in the same 40-minute span, leaving the team's fans disappointed and dispirited in the end.
Would it be impolite to wonder why, as Grant said after the game, the first option on Alabama's last play was offensively challenged sophomore center Jimmie Taylor? Taylor averages 4.4 points a game and hadn't scored all night, and if he gets fouled and goes to the line, cross your fingers.
Randolph is Alabama's best player, and he got a good look, but Finney-Smith's help on defense to block the shot was even better.
The last time Alabama beat Florida, under Mark Gottfried in the 2008 SEC Tournament, it preceded a natural disaster. A tornado hit the Georgia Dome the next night, but lives were saved when the Tide's Mykal Riley hit his "Miracle 3" to send the game to overtime and keep a lot of fans from walking out into the teeth of the storm.
Tuesday's loss wasn't close to a disaster, but there were no miracles, either. Close losses to quality programs have become the story of the season as the Tide dropped to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in the SEC, to 1-3 in this difficult five-game stretch that concludes Saturday at undefeated No. 1 Kentucky.
In the end, there was a nice comeback with nothing to show for it but a familiar empty feeling after another opportunity lost.