Florida knocked off the number one overall seed Auburn, 79-73, in San Antonio behind a second-half surge spearheaded by Walter Clayton Jr.’s 20 second half points. 

The Gators are headed to their first national championship since 2007 when they took the trophy back to Gainesville. 

Auburn controlled a 46-38 lead heading to the locker rooms, but Todd Golden’s squad came out of the break red-hot, going on an 11-0 run to take a 51-49 lead in the first five minutes. 

After 12 first half points from All-American big man Johni Broome, Florida held him to just three second-half points, stifling the Tiger offense. Auburn went just 8-24 from the field in the final 20 minutes with 12 turnovers and were out-rebounded 23-13. Bruce Pearl’s squad had just two TOs in the first 20 minutes of play. 

Clayton was sensational in the win, dropping 34 points on 11-18 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Alijah Martin also provided huge sparks throughout the game with three breakaway dunks including a huge poster down the stretch.

OKAY ONE LAST LOOK 🥵#MarchMadness https://t.co/6CfYaoQ3oM pic.twitter.com/RlY0IhCEot

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025

Golden’s Gators will meet the winner of Duke and Houston in the title game in search of their third men’s basketball title. 

The SEC showdown is delivering as the two teams battle for a spot in the title game. Florida leads 71-68 with two to play after a Walter Clayton drive to the basket. Clayton has 29 points on the night. 

Clayton gets right to the cup for 2️⃣#MarchMadness @GatorsMBK pic.twitter.com/8d5Q3NMkqc

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025

Florida leads 60-58 into the under-10 media timeout. The SEC foes are trading punches in a game that has featured 11 lead changes and nine ties with almost eight minutes to play. 

The defenses have ramped up in the second half with seven Tiger turnovers and six for the Gators. Auburn had just two TOs in the entire first half. 

😳🤯#MarchMadness @GatorsMBK https://t.co/5r2mJ8lMKd pic.twitter.com/Jblfgh6hmJ

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025

Following the Gator’s 11-0 run, Auburn went on a 6-0 run to take a four-point lead. But Walter Clayton Jr. is heating up with eight points in the second half already, including a ridiculous fadeaway 3-pointer to end the Tiger’s run. 

Clayton has 22 on the night on 8-12 shooting. 

HOW DID THAT GO IN!? 🤯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/d8htlXdpjw

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2025

Florida opens the second half on an 11-3 run to knot the game 49-49. Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijiah Martin stay involved from beyond the arc, each knocking down a triple early in the second half. 

The Tigers have missed their last four attempts and are on a 2:27-long scoring drought into the first media timeout. 

WE ARE ALL TIED UP 🔥

👉 https://t.co/Cw7PWdG3Nq#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/VC1PsZUchr

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2025

Auburn leads Florida 46-38 at the break. The Tigers closed out the final six minutes of the first half on a 17-11 run to take an eight-point lead into the locker room. 

Johni Broome leads the charge for Auburn’s paint attack, tallying 12 points in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers are outscoring Florida 26-14 in the paint. 

Walter Clayton Jr. has a game-high 14 points at half on 5-9 shooting. Alijah Martin has chipped in with 10 more, but the Gators are struggling to find buckets inside. 

Here are the full team stats at half: 

Auburn holds a 29-25 lead into the under-10 media timeout. It has been a seesaw of a game with eight lead changes and six ties in the first 12 minutes. Alijah Martin leads the way for the Gators with 10 points while Chad Baker-Mazara leads the Tigers with eight.

Johni Broome has missed his last three attempts after starting 2-2. 

Broome with the rejection and Kelly with the layup 🔥#MarchMadness @AuburnMBB pic.twitter.com/NtxDAPvKRM

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2025

Auburn leads 16-14 after the first five minutes. Johni Broome is getting it done in the paint with six early points while Chad Baker-Mazara has drilled two three balls for the Tigers. 

The Gators are matching with threes of their own as Walter Clayton Jr. has two three-balls and Alijah Martin has one. 

Each team is shooting over 50% from the field. 

Back and forth we go in the early going 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/t4v8racYwT

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2025

We are less than half an hour until (1) Auburn and (1) Florida take the stage for the men’s Final Four in San Antonio. Follow along here for live updates and highlights throughout the game. 

Here are the starting lineups for the SEC foes: 

The Florida Gators and Auburn Tigers will tip off the 2025 Final Four at 6:09 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 5. Here’s a breakdown of the matchup between these two SEC powerhouses:

Florida

The Gators have been on a hot streak since Feb. 8, when, coincidentally, they beat Auburn 90-81 on the road. Since then, they are 14-1.

Florida’s biggest strength is its ability to get hot at the right time. The Gators are known to completely turn the tide of games in just minutes with offensive onslaughts. Case in point: They trailed by nine points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight with 3:14 left to play, but they ended the game on an 18-4 run to advance to the Final Four.

Auburn

The Tigers struggled down the stretch of the regular season, losing three of their last four games. They fell apart defensively and found themselves limping into the tournament, but still the No. 1 overall seed.

Since then, though, Auburn has looked like its usual self, tightening up defensively and stifling their opponents at the rim and beyond the arc. Denver Jones is the Tigers’ best perimeter defender, and he’ll need to be lights out when guarding Walter Clayton Jr., who had 19 points, including 12 from three-point range against Auburn back in February.

Regular season matchup

The 90-81 final score of the Feb. 8 matchup is misleading, as the Gators led by double digits for the majority of the game. Auburn scored some late free throws to cut the deficit to a more respectable single-digit, but the Gators dominated the first meeting between these SEC foes.

These two No. 1 seeds match up pretty evenly on paper. Here’s a breakdown of some key team stats and individual leaders for each squad:

Florida Category Auburn 85.4 Points per game 83.2 69.7 Points allowed per game 69.2 35.74 3-point percentage 36.09 72.69 FT percentage 72.80 10.9 Turnovers per game 9.3 Walter Clayton Jr., 18.1 (G) PPG leader Johni Broome, 18.7 (F) Walter Clayton Jr., 4.2 (G) APG leader Tahaad Pettiford, 2.9 (G) Alex Condon, 7.7 (F) RPG leader Johni Broome, 10.9 (F) 👉 Click or tap here to see all stats