Florida basketball’s magical run will continue with the Gators coming up with second half wizardry to knock off the talented Texas Tech Red Raiders by a score of 84-79. With this win the Gators have advanced to the Final Four, a remarkable feat that speaks to the level the program has returned to.
It wasn’t always looking like things were going to end well for the Gators who fell behind by 10 points with just 6 minutes remaining, and with the Red Raiders in the driver’s seat playing excellent basketball it looked like Florida might be out of luck. That was, of course–until Walter Clayton happened.
This wasn’t the best game you’ll ever see from Clayton–at least based on the first 30 minutes. Texas Tech did a decent job of keeping him from getting clean looks, and it looked like he might be kept from continuing his now legendary streak of games with a made three-pointer. However, when the team needed him most–he delivered. First, it was a deep three off the dribble. Then, a driving layup at the cup. Before you knew it, it was another three, followed by–you guessed it, another three. As the degree of difficulty kept rising Clayton continued to grow in confidence, and his flurry of 11 points late was what ultimately gave the Gators a lead, and it will be another chapter in the storybook of Clayton’s career at Florida that will now see him as a folk hero.
While it was magic from Walter Clayton in the end that delivered Florida the win, they wouldn’t have even been in striking distance if not for Thomas Haugh who was arguably the best player on the floor for the Gators in this one. In the first half he was one of the only players capable of making plays offensively as he used his driving ability and his long arms to finish at the rim, something his teammates were struggling to do. He also had a huge task on the defensive end to try and match up with JT Toppin and Darrion Williams, and while both of those players were still able to get loose for a number of buckets–Haugh kept them off the scoreboard a number of times.
When you look at the totality of this game, there are a number of things that went in Texas Tech’s favor that would have suggested a Red Raider win. Not known for their dominance on the glass, they had 14 offensive rebounds to Florida’s 11. They went 37% from the three-point line with 10 makes, after shooting below 30% in their three other NCAA Tournament games. They turned Florida over 12 times and turned those opportunities into 22 points, much more than the 5 points the Gators had off of Red Raider turnovers.
Looking at these important categories–you would think that Texas Tech would have won. But, they didn’t. Once again the Gators pulled off the remarkable in the second half of a game, willing themselves to victory against all odds. Much of this is due to the miraculous play of Walter Clayton who always seems to come through when the team needs him most. Even when tightly guarded he’s capable of getting his shots off, and it seems like he hits a higher percentage when the game is in the balance than what he does earlier when the points might not seem as valuable. The fact that Florida has been able to pull out late game wins like this continues to build their confidence and unshakable belief that they can be victorious–something that should serve them well in the Final Four.
This was far from the best basketball that Florida has played, and a number of the players other than Clayton and Haugh will have a lot of film to watch to clean up some of their play, but they’ll now have the opportunity to do so before the team travels to San Antonio for what will be there final game or games of the season.
The Gators will now wait to play the winner of Auburn and Michigan State, who play Sunday–giving the Gators an extra day of rest over their upcoming opponent.