SAN ANTONIO, Texas — On Florida’s side, the lead-up to Monday’s national championship game centered almost entirely around Walter Clayton Jr. The All-American guard was on a run not seen since Shabazz Napier and Kemba Walker carried UConn to a pair of titles in the early 2010s.
It was evident immediately that Houston’s scouting report did too.
After scoring a combined 64 points in his previous two games, Clayton didn’t score his first point until the 14:57 mark of the second half against the Cougars. He didn’t make his first field goal until there was 7:54 left in the game. It was the recipe for a comfortable Houston championship win, inevitably continuing the narrative about the Cougars’ top-ranked defense.
But Florida’s supporting cast kept the Gators in the game just long enough for Clayton to get going in the second half, erasing a 12-point deficit en route to a 65-63 win.
It was Florida’s third national championship since 2006, making 39-year old Todd Golden the youngest head coach to win the national championship since Jim Valvano in 1983.
The areas that carried Houston all season on the offensive end — 3-point shooting and offensive rebounding — were nowhere to be found in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars shot just 2-for-14 from behind the arc in the first half, and while they grabbed six offensive boards, they didn’t score a single second-chance point.
Sampson was getting huge contributions from bench players Mylik Wilson and Ja’Vier Francis. The two players combined for six points in 22 minutes in the semifinal against Duke — but had 13 points in a combined 24 minutes in the first half against Florida.
The same argument could have been made by Golden, however. Florida turned it over nine times in the opening 20 minutes and Clayton was shut out in the first half. It was only the third time all season he had a scoreless half, with the previous two both coming against Tennessee. Houston was aggressively hard-hedging on ball-screens, forcing the ball out of Clayton’s hands early. The Cougars weren’t letting him get into a rhythm going left, where he found so much success all tournament. He did have five assists in the first half.
Instead, it was Will Richard who singlehandedly kept Florida in the game early. He made four 3-pointers in the first half, going into the break with 14 points – after shooting 1-for-6 and scoring seven points in the win over Auburn on Saturday. He finished with a team-high 18 points.
The big question going into halftime was whether either team could get hot from the perimeter and begin to open up the game on the offensive end.
After the break, however, it turned into a game of whistles, an endless parade of players going to the free throw line. Florida committed five fouls in the first 3:39 of the second half, plus a technical foul on the bench. The next several whistles went on Houston, leading to 12 combined fouls in the first 6:15 after halftime.
The game needed a spark, and the two stars that carried Houston and Florida to the title game obliged. L.J. Cryer had just five points in the first half but had 14 points after the break, making three 3-pointers. He finished with a game-high 19 points. Clayton scored his first points at the free throw line, but then had two three-point plays to provide Florida with much-needed momentum.
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