Pancakes are difficult to dunk over.

Mississippi State guard Craig Sword learned that the hard way on Thursday at the NCAA Dunk Contest, which was sponsored by Denny’s—hence the costume.

Sword really wasn’t close to clearing the pancake, but losing the ball mid-flight didn’t help matters.  

Here's another angle:

ESPN editor Brett Edgerton provided a heartbreaking scene-by-scene breakdown of the attempt: