SAN ANTONIO — Walter Clayton Jr. scored all 11 of his points in the second half and Florida pulled out a 65-63 win against Houston’s ferocious defense with a second-half rally to claim the third national championship in program history.
The Gators were led by guard Alijah Martin’s 18 points. Freshman forward Alex Condon had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Clayton added 7 assists, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal but shot 3-10 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Houston guard L.J. Cryer had a game-high 19 points. Senior forward J’wan Roberts had 8 points and 8 rebounds but went 1 of 6 in the second half. Guard Emanuel Sharp had 8 points and shot 3 of 11 with a pair of costly turnovers.
This is Florida’s first title since going back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 under Hall of Fame coach Bill Donovan. The Gators won a combined 39 games in coach Todd Golden’s first two years but finished 36-4 this season, tying the 2014 team for the most wins in program history.
Golden, 39, is the youngest coach to win a national title since Jim Valvano of North Carolina State in 1983. Valvano was 37.
"We did what we did all year," Golden said. "We stayed the course. ... Like we've done all year, we made plays when we needed them the most. We guarded our butts off down the stretch."
Florida’s victory gives the SEC its first national championship since 2012 and cements this year’s conference as the most dominant in recent NCAA history. The SEC sent a record 14 teams into this year’s tournament and had four teams in the Elite Eight.
The Gators won it all despite nearly facing the toughest possible tournament road. Previously, Florida beat No. 16 Norfolk State (95-69) in the opening round, No. 8 Connecticut (77-75) in the second round, No. 4 Maryland (87-71) in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Texas Tech (84-79) and No. 1 Auburn (79-73) in the Final Four.
"It's a feeling I can't even explain," Clayton said.
In a matchup expected to be decided by which team was able to control the tempo, it was the Cougars’ physicality that defined the style of play and forced the run-and-gun Gators to alter their approach.
Houston’s ability to control the paint and dominate the glass helped put it in front 16-10 midway through the first half, with the two teams combining to miss their first 12 attempts from deep. The Cougars’ harassing halfcourt defense yielded six Florida turnovers and made every early possession a battle for breathing room.
A trio of 3-pointers by Richard helped snap a five-minute Florida scoring drought and evened the score at 21-21 with 5:44 to go before halftime. The Cougars would then go on an 8-0 run over the next 40 seconds to go up 29-21. But Florida would close the first 20 minutes on a 7-2 run of its own to make the score 31-28 at the half.
That Florida was within a possession of the Cougars despite a scoreless first half by Clayton, who missed all four of his attempts but had five assists, was telling. With 14 points on 4 of 6 makes from 3, Richard stepped up to keep the Gators close. The two teams ended the half a combined 6 of 28 from behind the arc.
After only four fouls were called in the first half, Florida was whistled three times in the first 2:09 of the second, with the last, a blocking call against Richard, resulting in a technical foul assessed to the apoplectic Gators’ bench. UH would make one of two ensuing free throws and then add a 3 by Cryer and a short jumper by Roberts to lead 42-30 at the 15:30 mark.
