At the Alamodome in San Antonio, the Florida Gators rallied from a 12 point second half deficit and defeated the Houston Cougars 65-63 in the men’s college basketball national championship game on Monday night. It is the third national title for Florida.
An 8-0 run early in the second half by Houston had the Cougars up 42-30 with 15:48 left to play, but Florida would answer in a big way. Trailing 45-34, the Gators went on a 14-3 spurt to tie it 48-48 with 7:54 remaining capped off by a three point play by Walter Clayton, Jr. It was the first field goal of the game for Clayton Jr. (18.5 points average), who went 11-18 from the floor for 34 points in the national semifinal win over Auburn. Houston would then jump back on top by three, but Florida was resilient late finally grabbing back their first lead since it was 8-6 early in the first half when Alijah Martin knocked down two free throws with 46.5 seconds left at 64-63. On the Cougars next possession, Emanuel Sharp had the ball knocked off his leg out of bounds by Will Richard and Denzel Aberdeen hit 1-2 at the line on the other end for a two point Gators advantage with just 19.7 seconds showing on the clock. Houston never got a shot off on the final possession, after Sharp almost committed a double dribble as players scrambled for the ball on the floor as time expired.
Richard led Florida with 18 points and eight rebounds. Alex Condon contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, while Clayton Jr. after his tough start would finish with 11 points and seven assists to go along with five rebounds. L.J. Cryer had a game-high 19 points in the loss for Houston. Mylik Wilson put in nine points, while J’Wan Roberts, Sharp, and Ja’Vier Francis all chipped in eight points a piece. The Cougars, who finished at 35-5, are still without a national title losing in their previous two championship games in 1983 and 1984. The Gators final record is 36-4, winning their first title since 2007. Florida won it in back to back seasons in 2006 and 2007, and this was their sixth Final Four appearance in school history. Clayton Jr. was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after averaging 22.5 points and also going a perfect 11-11 from the foul line in the two games.
