The kings of the comeback did it again when it really counted.
For over 30 minutes of Monday night’s ‘win or go home’ NCAA’s Championship Game, the Houston Cougars buzzsaw defense confused an up and down free flowing Florida Gators offense into playing their own style of a grind-it-out game.
But Florida would not take no for an answer. The Gators appeared to be done when Houston established a 12-point 42-30 second-half lead. But Florida fought back and rallied for a 65-63 win to lock up the program’s third national championship and their first since 2007. The heartbreaking loss denied Houston and head coach Kelvin Sampson their first.
“When it gets down to the two best teams left,” Sampson said of the thriller he barely lost, “it’s not going to be easy for either team.”
Houston was dominating for much of the game and did not allow Florida to take a second-half lead until Alijah Martin sank two free throws with 46.5 remaining after drawing a foul on a drive to the hoop. Florida never looked back after that.
Houston turned the ball over on their next possession, and Florida responded with a Denzel Aberdeen free throw to extend the lead to 65-63 with 19.7 seconds to go. Houston had one last chance to tie the game or take the lead on the next possession.
But Florida gave Houston a dose of its own defensive medicine with a stifling effort on the final possession of the game. Houston looked to set up sharpshooter Milos Uzan with a look from the right wing on a pass from LJ Cryer. But Uzan was bottled up and harassed by two Florida defenders as he tried to break free off a screen to create a shot.
Uzan gave the ball back to Cryer, who immediately passed it to Emanuel Sharp at the top of the key. But Sharp had no place to go. He dropped the ball to the floor after finding Walter Clayton Jr.’s hand in his face after he pulled up for a 3. And the clock ticked off from there as Sharp watched the ball bounce, aware that if he touched it, he would be called for a double dribble or a traveling violation.
From there, the Florida celebration was on.
“Just go 100 percent,” Clayton said when asked what he was trying to do at the finish. “We were just trying to get a stop, and we happened to get it. I’m happy we got it done.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe defensive stop provided a fitting end to a game in which defense reigned supreme and set the tone from the opening tip.
“We guarded them hard and then I saw the ball loose and I just hoped we beat them to the ball,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
Houston had a 31-28 halftime lead after a first half in which they held Clayton scoreless.
Clayton, an All-American who entered Monday’s contest on a heater, averaging 24.6 points per game in five previous NCAA tournament games, but did not score his first point until a free throw with 14:57 remaining in the second half.
But it was Clayton’s eventual offense and Florida’s defense down the stretch that ultimately willed the Gators to victory. Clayton finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and that big hand in Sharp’s face on the final possession of the game. He earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player for his combined effort that included 34 points in Florida’s semifinal win on Saturday over the Auburn Tigers.
Houston took a 45-34 lead on a Sharp free throw with 14:07 remaining. From there, the Gators held the Cougars to three points over a nearly seven-minute stretch, while cutting its deficit to three, 48-45. Then Clayton put on his cape and went to work.
He scored his first field goal of the game on an and-one layup in traffic. He hit the free throw to knot the game at 48-48.
Two possessions later, Clayton did it again. With Houston up, 51-48, Clayton drove to the basket. He scored through contact and drew a foul. And he knocked down his free throw to tie the game.
Then, with less than four minutes left in the game, Houston held another three-point lead at 60-57. This time Clayton did his magic from the perimeter. He took a pass off a screen and pulled up for his only made 3 in seven attempts. It was a huge one that continued to mount pressure on a Houston team that had still yet to trail in the second half.
From there, Florida did not let up on the defensive pressure, ultimately giving Martin the opportunity to take the lead at the free throw line in the game’s final minute.
When it was all said and done, Florida limited Houston to a bone-chilling 34.8% shooting from the field and an even worse 24% (6 of 25) shooting from 3-point range. Cryer scored 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Cougars. But he needed 18 shot attempts to get there. No other Cougar scored in double figures.
Florida entered Monday’s game boasting the NCAA’s third-highest scoring offense with 85.3 points per game. They scored 77 points or more in each of their five previous NCAA tournament victories.
But it was a grind on Monday against the country’s top defense. The Gators shot just 39.6% from the field and 25% (6 of 24) from 3 and committed 13 turnovers. As Clayton struggled to find his rhythm early, Will Richard picked up the scoring slack and finished with a team-high 18 points and eight boards.
After scoring a measly one point and fouling out in the Final Four against Auburn, center Alex Condon finished with 12 points and seven rebounds against Houston. None of it was ecstatically pleasing and little of it looked like Florida basketball.
But it ultimately did not matter for the Gators. The Cougars forced them to play their game. And in the end, Florida played it better.
