By Daniel Casanta, Contributing Writer
Many basketball fans complained about the lack of upsets, Cinderella teams and buzzer beaters, but all was forgiven this past weekend at the Men’s NCAA Basketball Final Four. The four one seeds, Houston, Florida, Duke, and Auburn battled this past weekend for the national championship.
Saturday, April 5 – The two final four games tipped off with high expectations. The four teams squaring off all were statistically ranked within the top 10 teams of all time. These were the clear best teams in the country.
In the first semi-final, Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 points with five three-pointers, giving him the first consecutive 30-point games this deep in the tourney since Larry Bird. Florida beat Southeastern Conference rival Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four on Saturday night. The Gators erased a double-digit deficit to go to the national championship game for the first time since their titles in 2006 and 2007.
Houston’s defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes, erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes and brought the Cougars closer to a championship of their own Saturday night, with a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils. Duke ended the game shooting one for nine, and blew a nine-point lead with just over two minutes remaining to continue their non-championship appearance streak.
Monday, April 7 – It looked like Houston had this game in their control for the majority, as Florida had only led for 17 seconds until the five minute mark where the game started to teeter in the Gators’ favor.
Clayton and the Gators somehow overcame Houston’s lockdown intensity and 12-point deficit Monday night. They pulled out a 65-63 victory in an NCAA title-game thriller, decided when the Florida senior’s defense stopped the Cougars from even taking a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Clayton, who only had 11 points (all in the second half) made a key play on the defensive end, which he’ll be most remembered for. Clayton ran at Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp and caused Sharp to drop the ball. Star big man Alex Condon dove on the ball and effectively ended the game and started the celebration.
Head Coach Todd Golden is the youngest coach at 39 years old to win a National Championship. This is his third season with the Gators, and he won his first national championship and the Gators’ first in 18 years.
The Gators certainly have a special group but will be graduating three of their five starters. As for Houston, they are losing just two of their top eight contributors. As the offseason opens, so does the transfer portal. It will be interesting to see who ends up where and what teams piece together rosters to prime themselves to pull off what the Gators did this season – a National Championship.
