SAN ANTONIO — With the championship on the line, Houston couldn’t get a shot off. The horn sounded. Florida celebrated as confetti fell from the roof.
The Gators, an offensive juggernaut all season, won their first national championship in 18 years with defense — against the school known for stifling its opponent.
And it was Gators superstar guard, and former Iona University standout, Walter Clayton Jr. who made the play that will forever live in Final Four lore.
Clayton got out on Houston guard Emanuel Sharp, interrupting his potential game-winning 3-pointer.
But Sharp had already left his feet.
He dropped the ball in an attempt to keep the play alive, but he couldn’t touch it, otherwise it would’ve been a traveling violation.
Clayton’s teammate, Alex Condon, dove for the loose ball as precious seconds ticked away.
He handed it to Clayton as the buzzer sounded.
“The feeling, just surreal,” Clayton, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, said after this pulsating 65-63 victory capped a memorable weekend. “It’s a crazy feeling. I can’t even explain it.”
It was similar to Florida’s second-round win over No. 9 Connecticut and Elite Eight victory over Texas Tech, games in which the Gators were outplayed for large stretches.
Clayton was blanked in the first half for the second time all season and didn’t notch his first field goal until 7:54 remained.
Houston was in control, holding a 12-point lead early in the second half. But Florida has developed a knack for rallying against elite opponents.
They did it again.
“It’s kind of embedded in our DNA,” said Florida coach Todd Golden, who at 39 became the youngest coach to win a title since the legendary Jim Valvano (37) in 1983. “They did what they always do. They stepped up.”
Coming off a dominant 34-point performance on Saturday, Clayton came alive late to score all 11 of his points after halftime, and Alijah Martin’s two free throws with 46.5 seconds to go gave the Gators the lead for good.
Houston (35-5) didn’t score over the final 2:05 and committed four turnovers in that span, two coming by Sharp in the final 26.6 seconds.
Will Richard scored 18 points for Florida (36-4) and Condon added 12 points and seven rebounds.
L.J. Cryer scored 19 points to lead Houston, which was held to 31.3 percent shooting after halftime and made only 6-of-25 3-point attempts.
Struggling against Houston’s pressure, the Gators committed nine first-half turnovers and never were settled offensively.
They were only down three at the break, most because of Richard’s 14 points and four 3-pointers, and Houston’s struggles from deep (2-of-14).
The Cougars came out of the gates on fire after intermission, ripping off an 11-2 spurt to push the lead to 12.
Cryer had seven of those points, while Clayton remained scoreless.
He finally got on the board with two free throws 5:03 into the second half.
On the following possession, however, he missed a midrange jumper and was taken out. The Houston lead was back up to 11.
With Clayton on the bench, Florida finally found some semblance of a rhythm.
A quick 8-0 run, capped by an acrobatic Thomas Haugh 3-point play, trimmed the deficit to three.
A few minutes later, Clayton finished off a lefty drive for his first field goal of the night 32:06 after the opening tip.
Following a timeout, he sank the free throw. Florida was even at 48 and 7:54 remained in the college basketball season.
“I just think we have elite confidence in those situations,” Condon said. “We seemed to be in those tight situations a lot in this tournament.”
The game was tied four times the rest of the way, setting up a dramatic finish to this all-time Final Four.
In the final minutes, Florida wouldn’t let Houston get a shot off. It was what won the Gators this championship.
“We’ve gotten a lot of credit for our offense because we’ve been so explosive all year, been one of — if not the — top two offenses in America all year,” Golden said. “We’ve been a top 10 defense all year also.”
