The final game of March Madness and the college basketball season as a whole went down last night and it came down to the final play, leaving one team victorious and the other heartbroken. No. 1 Florida and No. 1 Houston both came in with an overall record of 35-4. Who wants it more?
The starting lineup for Florida was: #9 Rueben Chinyelu, #21 Alex Condon, #5 Will Richard, #15 Alijah Martin, and their star player, #1 Walter Clayton Jr. The Houston Cougars opening 5 was: #11 Joseph Tugler, #13 J’Wan Roberts, #7 Milos Uzan, #21 Emanuel Sharp, and their star player, #4 L.J. Cryer.
The ball was tipped and the game was on. Houston got the scoring started with a Joseph Tugler floater. Florida came right back, finding Alex Condon out in the open floor for a slam. A few minutes past the teams were neck and neck. Ja’Vier Francis had just checked into the game for Houston and immediately threw down a poster dunk over top of Florida’s Thomas Haugh and the crowd roared. Right from the beginning Houston was glued to Walter Clayton Jr. not letting him have any room to get a comfortable shot. Will Richard however hit three 3-pointers to prevent a scoring drought.
Houston started to gain some momentum when Ja’Vier Francis swatted Micah Handlogten’s layup attempt. Houston hustled down the loose ball and Emanuel Sharp lobbed the ball up toward the basket where Mylik Wilson caught it with one hand and slammed it home in a wild Houston sequence. Florida got the Houston Cougars lead down to 3 at halftime when Will Richard made his fourth three pointer.
Florida’s star player, Walter Clayton Jr. had zero points at halftime as Houston was locking him down, but the good news is they were only down 3. The game was already getting really physical as the teams showed they were willing to do anything to win.
The start of the 2nd half was very ugly as Florida committed foul after foul after foul. At the 18 minute mark in the first half, Florida had one foul, fast forward one minute later at the 17 minute mark, they had five fouls now, with Will Richard picking up two of them. It was really just a frustrated Florida team who couldn’t match the Houston physicality without picking up a foul. Houston took advantage of the Gators frustration and jumped out to a 12-point lead. Florida chipped away at the Houston lead possession by possession. L.J. Cryer had a shot blocked from three and Thomas Haugh retrieved the ball, drove all the way to the basket, getting the shot to go and a foul as the Cougar lead was down to only 3. Houston was starting to feel Florida’s presence and the pressure was really on after Walter Clayton converted a layup while being fouled by Houston and now the scoreboard showed a tie game. Just a short possession later, Houston went back up 3, until Walter Clayton did the same exact thing with a foul and basket, tying it once again. Houston had let Clayton, who was scoreless at halftime get going and the battle was more than on at this point.
After a timeout, Florida had possession and drew up a masterful play to get Walter Clayton a clean 3-point shot and canned it. Clayton was finally awake and alive. Houston started to get rattled as on back to back possessions, Uzan had a three pointer blocked and L.J. Cryer turned the ball over underneath, giving Florida a shot at the lead as the clock ticked under a minute. Off of Cryer’s turnover Alijah Martin slingshotted to the hoop and got fouled. He sank two foul shots to give Florida the lead. Down 1, Houston put the ball into one of their playmakers hands, Emanuel Sharp. He drove to the basket but the ball popped loose and went out of bounds off his knee, the replay showed Florida’s Will Richard getting his hand on the ball causing Sharp to hit it with his right knee. Houston had no option but to press up and it seemed to work as Clayton threw a wild pass into the front-court, but Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen chased it down and was fouled, just barely saving a turnover. Aberdeen stepped up and missed his first free throw but made the second making it 65-53.
It was now do or die for Houston as they choked their double digit lead away, with one final possession to decide everything and to avoid Florida’s ferocious comeback. Cryer pushed the ball into the front-court with 15 seconds left. Passed to Uzan, back to Cryer with 5 seconds, Sharp shot the gap to the three point catches with nobody on him, went up to release the ball but thought better of it as Clayton flew out of nowhere to contest his shot and Sharp had to drop the ball to avoid a travel call on Houston. The ball was loose as Sharp was signaling to his team to grab the ball and shoot, but it was too late. Alex Condon dove on the loose ball and the clock expired– it was over. Houston did not even get a shot up and the Gators won off a monster defensive stand, an utter heartbreak for Houston and a horrible meltdown.
Florida won their 3rd National Championship and they only led for 1 minute and 4 seconds. Their first National Championship since they won back to back in 2006 and 2007. Walter Clayton Jr. was named March Madness Tournament MVP.
