Florida hung tough despite a host of issues in the first half of Monday night’s NCAA Tournament championship game against Houston. Despite being outrebounded, outmuscled and outshot, not to mention receiving 0 points from star guard Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators trailed by only 3 points at the break.
Then, almost as soon as the teams took the court after halftime, things went sideways.
The Gators were called for six fouls in the first 2:39 of the second half, including two on big man Alex Condon within 109 seconds. Will Richard was also called for a pair. To top it off, someone on Florida’s bench let the frustration get to him and drew a technical foul. As The Athletic’s Brian Hamilton pointed out in our live blog from the game, it’s hard to get T’d up in the Final Four. But the Gators made it happen.
The Florida bench is assessed a technical following a foul call on Will Richard. pic.twitter.com/lrm9MSkqTB
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 8, 2025
The result of all this? That 31-28 Houston edge ballooned to 42-30 in less than four minutes, and the Cougars were already on the verge of the bonus.
Florida later battled back to tie the score, even as the Gators’ frustration continued. At the 7:13 mark, Rueben Chinyelu was called for a foul on J’Wan Roberts, then was T’d up for his reaction.
The Gators ultimately rallied back for a 65-63 victory — notching the school’s third national championship in the process — but it will be interesting to see what Florida coach Todd Golden has to say about it all in his postgame interviews. Stay tuned.
There were several factors in Florida’s comeback. After being held scoreless in the first half, Clayton dropped in 11 in the second, including making a 3-pointer and all four of his attempted free throws. He also had seven assists and was named the most outstanding player. Richard led the Gators in both scoring (18) and rebounding (8).
Florida also ended up outrebounding Houston 37-35, though the Gators did surrender 13 boards on the offensive glass. The Gators were also brilliant from the free-throw line (17-for-21), which proved crucial as the referees called a whopping 30 fouls, 19 of which were assessed to Houston. Twenty-six of those fouls were called in the second half.
For Houston, it’s yet more championship game heartbreak. The 1983 team, led by future NBA stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, lost to Cinderella NC State on a last-second putback. The following year, Olajuwon & Co. lost a duel against Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing.
This story will be updated.
(Photo of Todd Golden: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
