Florida Gators rally to 3rd NCAA men's basketball title with thriller vs. Houston

Doug Feinberg · The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 7:42 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. came up with the cleanable going-away contiguous for that spirit-crushing Houston defence that bullied, battered and bedeviled him each night.

It was a antiaircraft gem of his own. Right earlier the buzzer. For the triumph and the nationalist title.

The Gators and Clayton someway overcame Houston's lockdown intensity, on with a 12-point shortage Monday nighttime successful San Antonio to volition retired a 65-63 triumph successful an NCAA title-game thriller decided erstwhile the Florida senior's ain D stopped the Cougars from adjacent taking a game-winning changeable astatine the buzzer.

Clayton finished with 11 points, each successful the 2nd half. What he'll beryllium remembered for astir was getting Houston's Emanuel Sharp to halt successful the mediate of his question arsenic helium tried to spell up for the game-winning three-pointer in the last seconds.

"Just spell 100 per cent," Clayton said erstwhile asked what helium was trying to bash astatine the finish. "We were conscionable trying to get a stop, and we happened to get it. I'm blessed we got it done."

With Sharp looking for room, Clayton ran astatine him. The Houston defender dropped the shot and, incapable to prime it up lest helium get called for traveling, watched it bounce.

Alex Condon dived connected the ball, past flipped it to Clayton, who ran to the other free-throw enactment with the buzzer sounding and tugged his jersey retired of his shorts. Next, the tribunal was awash successful Gator chomps and orangish and bluish confetti.

"We guarded them hard and past I saw the shot escaped and I conscionable hoped we bushed them to the ball," Florida manager Todd Golden said.

This marked the 4th comeback successful six March Madness wins for the Gators (36-4). They led this crippled for a full of 64 seconds, including the past 46 ticks of a contention that was successful limbo until the last changeable that ne'er came.

Houston manager Kelvin Sampson called it "incomprehensible" that the Cougars couldn't get a changeable disconnected connected either of their past 2 possessions.

About the past one, Sampson said: "Clayton made a large play. But that's wherefore you've got to changeable fake and get into the paint. Two's fine."

Will Richard had 18 points to support the Gators successful it, and they won their 3rd wide rubric and archetypal since Billy Donovan went back-to-back successful 2006-07.

This time, it's Golden, successful his 3rd year, bringing the rubric backmost to Gainesville, wherever the Gator faithful tin observe a triumph connected 1 of assemblage sports' grandest stages for the archetypal clip since Tim Tebow was playing backmost for the shot squad successful 2008.

This was the archetypal hoops rubric for the Southeastern Conference since Kentucky successful 2012, and the result the powerfulness league was hoping for (expecting?) aft placing a grounds 14 teams successful the tournament.

The Cougars (35-5) and Sampson were denied their archetypal championship, and ended up successful the aforesaid spot arsenic the colourful Phi Slama Jama teams from the 1980s — oh-so-close successful 2nd place.

This was a antiaircraft brawl — the Gators failed to ace 70 for lone the 2nd clip each play — and for astir of the night, Clayton got the worst of it.

He was 0 for 4 from the tract without a constituent done the archetypal half. Met astatine the apical of the circle, past double-teamed and trapped erstwhile necessary, helium didn't people until hitting 2 escaped throws with 14:57 left.

The subordinate who scored astatine slightest 30 points successful the past 2 games, who averaged 24.6 done the archetypal 5 games of the tournament, who astir singlehandedly outscored UConn and Texas Tech down the agelong of those March Madness comebacks, finished with 1 3-pointer. Before that, helium had a brace of three-point plays disconnected drives to the hoop that kept the Gators successful striking range. He finished 3 for 10.

He besides became portion of not one, but 2 stops that enactment these Gators successful the past book, and perchance cemented himself arsenic the champion hoops subordinate to deterioration the orangish and blue.

After Alijah Martin made 2 escaped throws to enactment Florida up 64-63 — its archetypal pb since 8-6 — the Gators lured Sharp into a triple-team successful the corner, wherever Clayton pressured him, and past Richard got him to dribble the shot disconnected his limb and retired of bounds.

Florida made 1 escaped propulsion connected the adjacent possession and that acceptable up the finale.

The shot archetypal went to L.J. Cryer, who led the Cougars with 19 points. Blanketed by Richard, helium threw to Sharp, who was moving to spot up for a 3 erstwhile Clayton ran astatine him. That near him with nary prime but to fto the shot go.

"It was a large antiaircraft play by Walter," Condon said. "I conscionable dived connected it, and proceeding the buzzer spell was a brainsick feeling."

Instead of the 69-year-old Sampson becoming the oldest manager to triumph the title, the 39-year-old Golden becomes the youngest since N.C. State's Jim Valvano successful 1983 to triumph it all.

This gut-wrenching nonaccomplishment came 2 nights aft the Cougars fashioned a chaotic comeback of their own, from 14 down against Duke.

All 3 Final Four games were decided down the stretch, nary by much than Florida's six-point triumph implicit Auburn connected Saturday. Any thought that the men's crippled had been overtaken by the progressively fashionable women volition astir apt spell connected clasp astatine slightest for a year.

The 3 women's Final Four games, capped by UConn's blowout of South Carolina connected Sunday, were decided by an mean of 24.7 points.

"When it gets down to the 2 champion teams left," Sampson said of the thriller helium hardly lost, "it's not going to beryllium casual for either team."