WATCH: Final Four court buckles under UNC star Armando Bacot at time of ankle injury vs. Kansas

North Carolina was within one point of Kansas with 51 seconds to play in the national championship on Monday. Then, Armando Bacot aggravated his ankle injury — and controversy ensued.

Bacot, who originally hurt that ankle in the Final Four against Duke, went down under the basket and hobbled down the court before the officials called a timeout to get him onto the sidelines. But the replays showed the elevated court at the Caesars Superdome buckled underneath him, which is why his ankle ended up rolling.

At that point, UNC was within one point, trailing Kansas 70-69. On the ensuing possession out fo the timeout, David McCormack hit a floater to put the Jayhawks ahead 72-69. That wound up being the final score as Kansas won its second national title under Bill Self.

People on social media noticed the court issue, and it became a hot topic of conversation.

So apparently the play that caused Bacot to miss the final seconds was a result of the wood floor literally buckling beneath his foot. Major yikes. Damn shame a moment like that potentially had so much consequence. @NCAA

pic.twitter.com/DltBgcGZOT https://t.co/24rhLnHWBu

— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) April 5, 2022

Afterward, Bacot addressed what happened and what went through his mind as he hopped down the court on one leg.

“I thought I really got the angle I wanted,” Bacot told reporters. “I thought it would have been an easy basket. And then I just rolled my ankle as I was going up. I think we were down like two points.

“It was a four on five and I was trying to get back to do whatever I could, even if I was just contesting a shot or do whatever. But I really struggled. I really couldn’t put any weight down on my right leg. And I don’t know, right then and there I probably knew I was done at that point.”

Bacot had a huge game despite the original injury, scoring 15 points and pulling down 15 rebounds as North Carolina took a 15-point lead into halftime. But an eventual 16-point lead vanished, and Kansas completed the biggest comeback in national championship history — topping the 15-point comeback by Loyola Chicago in 1963 against Cincinnati.