Walter Clayton Jr. is now the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to have back-to-back 30-point games this deep in the NCAA tournament. (Bob Donnan-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Walter Clayton Jr. had to completely take over, but Florida is headed to its first national championship game in nearly two decades.
The Gators snuck past top-seeded Auburn in a thrilling battle to kick off the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday night. Florida, thanks to 34 points and five 3-pointers from Clayton, pulled off the narrow 79-73 win over the Tigers. They shut down Johni Broome almost completely after he dominated in the early minutes, too.
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Florida, which made it to the Final Four for the first time since 2014, hasn’t been to a national championship game since 2007, when the Gators won their second straight title. They’ll now take on either Duke or Houston, who will wrap up the semifinal round with their matchup next on Saturday night.
Broome left the Tigers’ win over Michigan State in the Elite Eight briefly with an elbow injury, though he returned to that contest and insisted that he’d be back to full strength in time for Saturday’s game. While he was seen grabbing at his arm repeatedly in the first half, it didn’t appear to slow him down any at all.
Broome had 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks in the first 20 minutes while shooting 5-of-10 from the field. He was just about unstoppable inside, too, as Auburn dropped 26 of its first 46 points from inside the paint.
Auburn’s halftime lead didn’t hold for long. The Gators opened the second half on an 13-3 tear, which included an 11-0 burst over a span of a little more than three minutes, to take the lead back almost instantly. Alijah Martin and Clayton, who combined for 24 points in the first half, hit back-to-back 3-pointers during that stretch.
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While the run didn’t continue, Martin kept the Gators a slight step ahead over the next few minutes and even threw down a pair of ridiculous dunks — one where he took off from just inside the free throw line and another in transition over a pair of Auburn players. The second dunk put Auburn up by three points with about five minutes left.
But Broome scored just three points in the second half, and didn’t score at all in the last 15:12 of the game. That left the door open for Clayton and Martin to take over. Clayton mounted a solo 8-3 run to finally put Florida in control down the stretch, which put them out in front for good and sent them to the six-point win. Florida held Auburn to just a single field goal in the last four minutes of the game.
Chad Baker-Mazara led Auburn with 18 points and two assists in the loss. Broome finished with 15 points, and he shot just 6-of-14 from the field. Denver Jones added 10 points, too. Auburn shot just 7-of-25 from behind the arc as a group.
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Clayton went 11-of-18 from the field and had four rebounds and two assists to go with his 34 points for the Gators, which marked his highest-scoring game of the tournament so far. He had 30 points in their Elite Eight win over Texas Tech, which made him the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to have back-to-back 30-point games this deep in the NCAA tournament. Martin finished with 17 points, and Thomas Haugh added 12 points off the bench. They were the only three Gators players to hit double figures.
The Gators will now take on either Duke or Houston in the national championship game on Monday. Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils have rolled through the NCAA tournament without much issue. They’ve won three of their four games by at least 20 points, and Flagg has averaged 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in the tournament. Houston held Tennessee to 50 points in the Elite Eight and grabbed a 19-point win to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2021.
