The Florida Gators didn’t lead in the second half against the UConn Huskies in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament round of 32 matchup until Walter Clayton Jr. splashed a 3-pointer with less than three minutes to go. A strong finish led to a 77-75 final score, and the Orange and Blue advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017.
UConn got the best of Florida for the middle 20 minutes, but a solid first and last 10 ensured that the Gators stayed in the NCAA Tournament. The backcourt trio of Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard carried the scoring load, combining for 56 of Florida’s 77 points, and each guard went on a run at some point in the game to keep the team in the game.
It wasn’t a banner day for the frontcourt, but credit goes to the UConn bigs for making one of the best forward rotations in the country uncomfortable for at least half of the game.
Best backcourt in the country
Enough can’t be said about the superstar Walter Clayton Jr. for this Florida team. He’s improved tremendously as a primary ball handler and always comes up big as a scorer when the Gators need it. Clayton flashed shades of Steph Curry with an impossible side-step 3-pointer late in the game to put Florida out in front by two scores. Many believe he’s the best guard in the country, and he’s rising to expectations during the most important moments of the season. Clayton dropped a game-high 23 points against UConn, including five makes from deep.
Of course, the complementary duo of Martin and Richard can’t be denied either. Richard scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including seven straight for the Gators to keep the lead from growing back above four points early in the second half. His three-pointer with 6:45 to go pulled things within one, and his fastbreak slam dunk built the Gators’ lead up to three points after Clayton drained a three to go up.
Martin only scored four points in the second half after leading the Gators with 14 in the first, but they were some of the most important buckets of the game. The FAU transfer is the defensive leader of the team, even if several big men on the roster can control the paint. Martin battled for two crucial offensive rebounds in the final minutes and buried a pair of free throws to put Florida up by eight with 40 seconds to go. His Final Four experience is going to continue to come in handy for the Gators as the pressure continues to grow next weeeknd.
Frontcourt mostly disappoints but comes up big when needed
Florida’s four-man frontcourt rotation of Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Thomas Haugh is also among the best in the country, but they looked lost in the middle 10-20 minutes of this game. Condon wasn’t a factor on the offensive glass, snatching all seven of his rebounds on defense, and Chinyelu struggled to keep track of UConn’s bigs as he looked to help the on-ball defender late in the shot clock.
Both Chinyelu and Condon figured things out eventually, though. Chinyelu helped regain some momentum with two big slams down low and he found his defensive presence after picking up a fourth foul. Condon continues to be an unselfish big man and passes up contested looks to find open guards. That’s the kind of high-IQ play that’s going to land him in the NBA at some point.
Haugh was probably the best of the bunch, even though he shot just 1-of-4, including a pair of missed 3-pointers. He works hard and delivers on the boards, both defensive and offensive, and he kept his foul count relatively low while Chinyelu flirted with fouling out. Handlogten only played 10 minutes, grabbing three offensive rebounds and playing some solid defense.
A little adversity never hurt anyone
While this might have been a tough game to get through for Gators coaches, fans and players alike, overcoming adversity against the reigning back-to-back champions is going to pay off moving forward. Florida was tested on Sunday and they passed — maybe not with flying colors, but a win is a win.
Dan Hurley worked the referees to make several calls in favor of UConn, but Florida locked in during the final 10 minutes of the game and made sure that a 50-50 call couldn’t beat them. Clayton has ice in his veins, and guys like Condon and Martin made clutch free throws on a night where the questions regarding Florida’s proficiently from the charity stripe began to recirculate.
With UConn and St. John’s knocked out of the West, Florida has a clear path to the Final Four with the winner of Colorado State-Maryland up next and then either Arkansas or Texas Tech. Florida has already beaten Arky this year, so that might be the preferred matchup, but they’ll do their scouting one round at a time.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
