- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 424,620
- Reaction score
- 43
You must be registered for see images
Despite a very slow start to the night, Walter Clayton Jr. still finished with 11 points and led the Gators to their comeback win. (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Brett Wilhelm via Getty Images
Florida led for just 64 seconds on Monday night, but it was the right 64 seconds.
And, thanks to a big finish from Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators are national champions.
Clayton Jr. helped lead Florida on a huge comeback win on Monday to secure a 65-63 win over Houston in the national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. While he got off to an incredibly slow start in the title game, Clayton was still named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player.
Clayton, who went more than 25 minutes without scoring, finished with 11 points and seven assists in the win for the Gators. He went just 1-of-7 from behind the arc, too, but he hit a huge 3-pointer down the stretch to keep Florida in it during its comeback.
"My team held me down until I was able to put the ball in the basket," Clayton said on CBS when asked about his slow start.
It was what Clayton did on Saturday night, though, that really stood out. He dropped 34 points and went 5-of-8 from behind the arc in the Gators' six-point win over Auburn in the Final Four. It marked his second-straight 30-point night, too, after he led the Gators past Texas Tech in the Elite Eight.
The Gators, after trailing by as many as 12 in the second half, clawed their way back into the game and made one wild defensive stand to grab the two-point win over the Cougars on Monday night. That marked the program's first national championship since 2007.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
Continue reading...
