Florida Wins Their Third NCAA Basketball Title After Beating Houston
The Gators pulled off yet another spectacular comeback on Monday night in front of 66,602 spectators at the Alamodome, defeating the University of Houston by a narrow margin of 65-63.
The first half of a men’s national championship game saw the lowest number of goals since 2011 due to the Cougars’ early dominance over the Gators.
Coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston and Cougars, who are renowned for their “junkyard” style of play and smash-mouth defense, had that as their game plan.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, the Gators, who had fallen behind by as much as 12, stepped up their high-octane offensive and began to eat away at the Cougar lead.
With a drive to the hoop past the formidable Houston defense, Walter Clayton Jr., who had been held scoreless at the half, came to life. With eight minutes remaining in the second half, he made his first basket of the game.
Florida Gators Complete Stunning Last-Minute Comeback to Win NCAA Championship
Taking the lead with 46 seconds left, the Gators launched a comeback. For the first time since the game’s opening 8–6 lead, they were ahead. The game ended in a heart-stopping triumph after their tenacious defense forced a turnover on the next play, a critical free shot, a final defensive stand, and a Houston turnover. Just more than a minute was all that Florida had the lead in the championship game.
Balanced Scoring, Clayton’s Consistency Lead Gators to National Title
Will Richard scored 18 points. A dozen were added by Alex Condon. The squad that had mainly depended on Clayton for the majority of the competition benefited from it. Clayton was voted the Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 11 points (he scored 30 against Texas Tech in the Elite 8 and 34 against Auburn in the Final Four).
Florida Gators Claim Third NCAA Title, Make History with Youngest Coach Since 1983
The Gators are winning their third NCAA men’s basketball title. They had previously won consecutive championships in 2006 and 2007.
Billy Donavan, their coach at the time, attended Monday night’s ceremony to receive recognition for being inducted into the 2025 Naismith Hall of Fame class.
Todd Golden, the 39-year-old coach of the Gators, became the youngest men’s basketball coach to win an NCAA championship since Jim Valvano of North Carolina State in 1983.
A record 14 SEC clubs, including No. 1 seed Florida, qualified for the men’s tournament.
