For the first time in 11 years, the Florida Gators are back in the NCAA Tournament Final Four, thanks to an 84-79 Elite Eight victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night. Todd Golden has taken his team from missing out on the Big Dance in his debut season to leading the Orange and Blue into the national spotlight in his third year at UF.
Walter Clayton Jr. was once again the hero of the day as he scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, including a key stretch in the final minutes when Florida overcame a 10-point deficit. Thomas Haugh chipped in with a double-double consisting of 20 points and 11 rebounds in yet another incredible effort from the super sixth-man.
Following the Gators' 10th-straight win, Golden spoke with the media and had the following to offer them.
Todd Golden's opening statement
"First, I want to give a lot of credit to Texas Tech. I thought they played a great game today. Controlled different facets of the game that we usually do. They had our backs against the wall. I think we were down 10. Under the four-minute media.
"But credit to our players and our staff. I thought we did a great job staying the course, not getting too high or too low or trying to make hero defensive plays down the stretch. We executed our fouls. These two guys next to me made some big-time shots. At the end of the day, great teams are as good as their players lead them. Walter has done a great job all year that way. And Tommy played his tail off for us across every game this season.
"And I'm really proud of these guys for the way they stepped up and made two big 3s each down the stretch. I think we finished the game on a 17-4 run. That allowed us to win. Would not have happened without these guys next to me."
On sending Texas Tech to the line for 1-and-1s
"They do a good job milking the game when they have a lead. Obviously and Toppin are very good individual one-on-one players. It felt like from the eight-minute mark to the four-minute mark they were getting them in iso situations, and we don't double on the post a lot, so they're getting a late clock and putting the ball in.
"We felt like being down nine or 10, whatever it was, at the under-four, we had to find a way to get a few more possessions in the ball game and try to stretch it out a little bit. And being in the one-on-one, we thought that was an opportunistic time to foul their frontcourt, given the opportunity. Toppin was the guy we wanted to foul. And Williams was a second option. And fortunately, they missed two front ends.
"Those were big-time plays that flipped the game a little bit, allowed Tommy to hit a second 3 to cut it to three. I think they missed the next one as well, and Walter came down hit a big-time shot. They came down, got a bucket, and Walter hit another 3. It was a calculated decision we had to make at that point where we needed to get more possessions in the game and it worked out well for us."
Does Walter Clayton Jr. ever surprise Golden?
"You know, he's obviously a blessing to have in our program, have on our team. He's an incredible player, but outside of that he's a great leader. He's been everything we could have asked him to be for this program since he got to campus two years ago.
"Obviously, this year he's taken on a lot more ball-handling responsibilities for us. He's closed out a lot of games for us. And there's not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his ...
