By STEPHEN HAWKINS
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 34 factors and Florida beat Southeastern Convention rival Auburn 79-73 within the Closing 4 on Saturday evening, sending the Gators to the nationwide championship sport for the primary time since their titles in 2006 and 2007.
The All-America guard for the Gators (35-4) had a driving layup with 2:24 left, on the possession proper after Australian huge man Alex Condon drew a cost towards Johni Broome, the opposite All-America participant on this nationwide semifinal — and who was coping with an injured proper elbow.
After a document 14 SEC groups made this NCAA Event, seven obtained to the Candy 16 earlier than the league made up half the Elite Eight after which this Closing 4 crammed with No. 1 seeds.
The Gators could have the possibility Monday evening to win the SEC’s first title since Kentucky in 2012, the one one since they received in back-to-back seasons. Florida takes an 11-game profitable streak into the title championship sport within the Alamodome towards both Duke or Houston.
“We’re just all together, on the court and off the court,” Clayton mentioned.
Even on the finish of the primary SEC matchup in a Closing 4, Clayton chased a free rebound and tipped it again inbounds to maintain the clock operating out on the win. When he began to stroll again on the court docket, teammate Alijah Martin was standing watching him on the finish line nodding with a smile to greet him.
The Tigers (32-6), of their second Closing 4 with coach Bruce Pearl, had been the highest general seed and had an eight-point halftime lead.
“Auburn had us on our heels in the first half but we came out with a great start and we didn’t look back,” mentioned 39-year-old Florida coach Todd Golden, the previous Saint Mary’s participant and San Francisco coach who joined Pearl’s first employees at Auburn in 2014.
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. drives round Auburn guard Miles Kelly in the course of the second half within the nationwide semifinals on the Closing 4 of the NCAA school basketball event, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photograph/Brynn Anderson)
Clayton turned the primary participant with consecutive 30-point video games within the Elite Eight and semifinals since Larry Fowl for Indiana State in 1979, in line with ESPN Stats. Clayton obtained over 30 together with his three-point play with 1:33 left, scoring on a layup whereas being fouled and including the free throw.
Martin, who performed within the Closing 4 with FAU two years in the past, added 17 factors for the Gators. Thomas Haugh had 12.
Florida opened the second half with a 13-3 run, with Clayton capping an 11-0 run with a layup after Rueben Chinyelu’s steal. That put the Gators up 51-49 with 15 1/2 minutes left.
Chad Baker-Mazara, together with his left hand partially wrapped due to a thumb situation, led Auburn with 18 factors, together with 4 3-pointers. Broome completed with 15 factors on 6-of-14 taking pictures and had seven rebounds — he had solely three factors after halftime.
Even earlier than the ultimate buzzer sounded, Broome was hunched over after which was surrounded by cameras to seize his response. He finally stood as much as shake fingers, then walked off the court docket together with his eyes crimson from crying — pulling up his jersey to wipe his face as cameras continued to observe his exit.
Broome and Baker-Mazara each had been injured within the win over Michigan State final Sunday that despatched the Tigers to the Closing 4. Broome’s proper elbow bent awkwardly throughout a tough fall within the second half, and within the Closing 4 he wore some type of brace on his arm lined by a sleeve.
Head Coach Todd Golden of the Florida Gators reacts in the course of the second half within the Closing 4 sport of the NCAA Males’s Basketball Event towards the Auburn Tigers on the Alamodome on April 05, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photograph by Alex Slitz/Getty Photographs)
Initially Revealed: April 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM PDT
