As the clock struck midnight, the Florida Gators stood at center court, holding the NCAA Championship Trophy. All that remained in the crowd was a sea of orange and blue shirts representing Gator Nation, mesmerized as orange and blue confetti gracefully fell from the skies.
With the Gator logo draped on a championship banner between the team, head coach Todd Golden, his players and the crowd began doing their signature Gator Chomp celebration as they hoisted the trophy.
From that point on, a message was sent to the entire nation.
Florida basketball is back.
Down by as many as 12 points in the second half, Florida rallied to defeat the Houston Cougars 65-63, winning the program’s third NCAA Championship and first since 2007.
Will Richard led the Gators with 18 points and eight rebounds. Alex Condon followed suit with 12 points and Walter Clayton Jr. capped off his legendary tournament run with 11 points and seven assists.
L.J. Cryer led Houston with 19 points and four triples. No other Cougar finished with double-digit scoring numbers. Mylik Wilson added nine points off the bench and J’Wan Roberts finished his collegiate career with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Both teams battled in the opening frame, causing three lead changes and five ties.
The Cougars threatened to pull away late in the first half after Wilson made a triple to give Houston a 29-21 lead with five minutes to play in the opening half.
However, Florida responded by closing out the final minutes on a 7-2 run led by a Condon steal and layup and two triples from Richard.
Florida’s run cut their deficit to three, leaving Houston up 31-28 lead into the half. Clayton struggled in the first half, closing out the opening frame with zero points after missing four attempts from beyond the arc.
In the second half, Houston’s came out of the half hot. Cryer hit a triple on the opening possession of the half, starting off an 11-2 Houston run that gave the Cougars a 42-30 lead. Houston’s defense suffocated Florida over this run, forcing three Gator turnovers that resulted in eight Cougar points.
However, Florida began to chip away. Clayton stole the ball from Milos Uzan and drew a foul, scoring his first points of the game from the free throw line. The Gators played tough defense, drawing fouls and contesting jumpers, even when Roberts snagged offensive rebounds to extend possessions.
On the offensive end, Florida scored eight consecutive points from a Denzel Aberdeen layup, Alijah Martin triple and a Thomas Haugh and-one. After their 8-0 run, the Gators cut the double-digit deficit to three points.
Houston maintained their slim lead over the next five minutes. The Gators continued to score, but could not break through to capture the lead. Finally, they forced a tie with just over three minutes to play.
Clayton, who had an off-shooting night while being guarded by Emanuel Sharp, showed up when his team needed him the most. With crunch-time approaching, Clayton curled around a screen and pulled up from the right wing, burying a triple to tie the game at 60 apiece.
Cryer quickly responded with a follow-up tip after a missed layup, but Richard drew a foul and calmly sank two free throws to keep Florida equal. After Joseph Tugler split a pair of free throws, Florida’s defense stepped up.
Up one, Cryer drove in hard to the paint, but had his shot rejected from Haugh. Condon pushed the ball down the court, where Alijah Martin eventually drew a foul on Tugler on a fast-break layup attempt.
Martin sank both of his free throws to give the Gators a 64-63 lead.
On Houston’s ensuing possession, Sharp held the ball at the top of the wing. He used a Roberts screen to drive hard right, but was stripped by Richard as he approached the paint. The ball ricocheted off Sharp’s hands, forcing another Houston turnover.
After the Cougars intentionally fouled Aberdeen, he split his free throws, leaving Houston a chance to tie with a two, or a chance to win with a triple.
On their final possession, Houston began to bleed the clock. As seconds clicked off the clock, Sharp darted out to the top of the key and received the pass from Cryer. He pulled up from deep, but Clayton contested hard, forcing Sharp to spike the ball at the ground. Sharp, unable to touch the ball due to a travel, tried to box out players for a teammate to receive the ball. Condon hustled and dove for the ball, securing possession and effectively bleeding out the final seconds on the clock.
Houston was unable to put a shot on the rim for their final three possessions of the game.
As Kelvin Sampson blankly looked onward, the Gator bench cleared to begin the celebration, with Clayton jumping into the arms of Micah Handlogten. Clayton would be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and rightfully so.
Both teams were inefficient on the offensive end—a product of their elite defenses. Florida shot 39.6% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc, slight increases from Houston’s 34.8% from the field and 24% from beyond the arc.
Florida’s ability to get to the free throw line proved to be one of the difference-makers in the game, as the 19 Cougar fouls turned into 17 Gator points off free throws.
With the win, Florida earned their third NCAA Championship in program history, with Golden becoming the youngest coach to win a title since Jim Valvano in 1983.
In a full circle moment, the team Valvano beat to win that iconic 1983 title—the Houston Cougars.
But for now, Florida will enjoy their one shining moment and look to try to go back-to-back next year, just like they did in 2006 and 2007.
