The SEC produced a Final Four special, but it was Florida that had the special player
What, you were expecting a groaner?
It stood to reason that an all-time great SEC men’s basketball season would produce a fantastic Final Four showdown between two SEC powerhouses. Anything else from the “It Just Means More” league would have been, well, less.
And, boy, did Auburn-Florida deliver.
And, boy, did Walter Clayton Jr. deliver.
Auburn’s Johni Broome might have been the SEC’s player of the year but it was Clayton, Florida’s sensational guard, who was the best player on the floor Saturday night, scoring 34 points to lead the Gators to a 79-73 victory to reach Monday night’s championship game at the Alamodome.
Coach Todd Golden’s Gators are the first SEC team to play for the NCAA Tournament title since Kentucky lost to Connecticut in 2014. And they are the first Florida team to reach the finals since (as of Saturday) Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame member Billy Donovan coached the Gators to back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
Clayton had much to do with that. The senior guard, who spent his first two college seasons playing for Donovan’s old college coach Rick Pitino at Iona, made 11 of 18 shots, including going 5-for-8 from 3-point range, in addition to going a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line.
Talk about big shots, it was Clayton who nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Florida a 69-65 lead with 4:28 left. It was Clayton who scored on a drive with 2:24 remaining to make it 71-68 Gators. And it was Clayton who scored on another drive, while being knocked to the floor, then completing the 3-point play at the foul line for a 74-68 Florida lead.
“Personally,” said Clayton, who was considered a better football than basketball prospect coming out of high school, “I just let the game come to me.”
It was just the latest chapter and what has been an incredible tournament for the Lake Wales, Florida, native. Clayton entered the night averaging 22.5 points in Florida’s four NCAA Tournament games, including a 30-point effort in the Gators’ West Regional final victory against Texas Tech.
“On and off the court he’s a great dude,” teammate Alijah Martin said. “We trust him in those situations.”
Saturday’s situation was a bit different than Florida’s 90-81 win over the then-No. 1 Tigers at Auburn on Feb. 8. Clayton scored 19 points that night, but he leaned heavily on frontcourt mates Alex Condon (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Thomas Haugh (16 points off the bench).
This time, Auburn’s frontcourt handled the Gators in the first half, outscoring Florida 26-14 in the paint on the way to a 46-38 lead at the break. Broome scored 12 points as Auburn was 13-for-18 on 2-point shots.
“We kind of felt like were getting knocked around a little bit,” Golden said.
Florida turned up the defensive heat in the second half. Auburn shot just 33.3% from the floor. The Tigers were outrebounded 23-13 and turned the ball over 12 times over the final 20 minutes.
“Twelve turnovers,” said Pearl, whose team was ranked seventh nationally in turnover percentage. “It’s just impossible to either explain or to think you can win turning the ball over like that.”
After injuring his elbow last Sunday in the Tigers’ South Regional final win over Michigan State, Broome was held to just three points and three rebounds in the second half by the Gators.
“Here and there it bothered me a little bit, but nothing I couldn’t play with,” the 6-10 forward said afterward when asked about the elbow. “We got the looks we wanted to get, I wasn’t able to capitalize on them.”
Bruce Pearl laments Auburn’s lack of depth
“We played beautiful basketball in the first half,” Pearl said. “Credit Florida’s energy. But the second half, the fact that we are not as deep as we normally are, as a result we weren’t able to maintain control of the game.”
Meanwhile, Florida advances to the next game. The championship game. The Gators did so on a night when Donovan was among the Hall of Fame inductees recognized in a halftime ceremony.
“It’s just incredible,” Golden said. “I saw Coach Donovan right behind our bench before the start of the second half and thought about that. He raised the bar pretty high at Florida.”
With Walter Clayton Jr., the Gators just might clear it. And cap off an incredible SEC season.
This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 10:12 PM.
