Sports
Walter Clayton Jr. - English
Will Richard - English
With 19.7 seconds left, Houston still had a shot to tie or win. Down two, ball in hand, the Cougars set up for what could’ve been the biggest possession in program history. But that possession unraveled fast-and painfully. Florida’s defense locked in. Milos Uzan tried to break free. No room. LJ Cryer looked for space. Nothing. ThenEmanuel Sharp pulled up with a hand in his face, dropped the ball, and hesitated. The moment was gone.
The title slipped away right then. Not with a buzzer-beater. Not with a highlight-reel block. But with confusion, pressure, and a ball bouncing away as time ran out.
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It was a fitting end to a game that had been a grind from the start.
For most of the night, Houston controlled the tempo. They forced Florida out of its rhythm, slowed the game down, and smothered the Gators’ high-powered offense. At one point in the second half, Houston led 42-30 and looked poised to close it out. But Florida didn’t blink.
The comeback started with stops, not shots
Trailing by 11 with 14 minutes to go, Florida clamped down. The Gators held Houston to just three points over nearly seven minutes. That stretch opened the door-and Walter Clayton Jr. finally walked through it.
Clayton, who was held scoreless in the first half, got going when Florida needed him most. He tied the game with an and-one layup, then again with another tough finish. When Houston tried to pull away again late, Clayton hit a huge three to level things at 60. His line-11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists-doesn’t tell the whole story. He dictated the final minutes on both ends and earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors after his 34-point showing in the semifinal against Auburn.
Meanwhile, Florida’s supporting cast filled in the gaps. Will Richard had a team-high 18 points and eight boards. Alex Condon added 12 and battled inside. The Gators shot just 39.6% from the field-but held Houston to 34.8%.
“We had to beat them playing their game,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said postgame, via CBS. “So that’s what we did.“
Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars will replay that final sequence over and over in their heads. The missed opportunity. The dropped ball. The championship that almost was.
Florida made the big plays when it counted. Houston didn’t. That’s the margin between heartbreak and hanging a banner.
This news was originally published on this post .
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