SAN ANTONIO – Here came the inevitable question about Walter Clayton Jr., and the array of spin moves and contested jumpers and lightning-quick drives past the defense that was designed to stop him.
Bruce Pearl, the Auburn coach whose team had spent two-plus hours flailing and failing to slow down the single most dominant player in this NCAA Tournament, closed his eyes, tilted his head back ever so slightly and let out a deep breath.
“I guess you could say all things were kind of equal,” Pearl said. “And he was the difference. Just flat out the difference.”
Florida’s 79-73 victory over Auburn, putting the Gators into Monday’s national championship game, reinforced two things.
Despite the conference standings that showed Auburn as the SEC’s regular-season champion, Florida was the best team in the conference this year. It went 2-0 against the Tigers, blew through the SEC tournament and is the only team with a chance to give the league its first national title since Kentucky in 2012.
It also proved what we’ve long known: That Clayton was the SEC’s best guard, and maybe its best player, even though he didn’t take home the hardware.
But even with all the recognition Clayton has earned down the stretch of the season and during this NCAA men’s basketball tournament, you don’t ever expect to leave the arena talking about something that hasn’t happened since Larry Bird.
Yet Clayton, the zero-star recruit who climbed all the way from Iona to the biggest stage in the sport, put himself in that category Saturday with a truly special performance: 34 points, 5-of-8 threes and 7-of-7 free throws in a game that showcased his entire offensive arsenal and a knack for hitting a huge shot in the clutch.
And combined with his 30-point performance in the Elite Eight against Texas Tech, Clayton became the first player to hit that mark in those two rounds of the tournament since Bird did it during Indiana State’s run to the 1979 finals.
“I feel like everybody sees it,” guard Will Richard said. “He’s poised, calm and collected and confident in himself, and we have that ...
