He's Florida's Mr. Clutch but call Walter Clayton Jr. Lethal Weapon 3
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Saturday night at the Alamodome, the three players considered the best in all of college basketball showed off their wares in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Only one of them emerged a winner and though he was a first team All-American, at least one coach in the Southeastern Conference didn’t vote him first team All-SEC. That coach is probably happy the voting was anonymous.
Walter Clayton Jr. lit up Auburn for 34 points, 20 in the second half when the Florida Gators (35-4) rallied from nine down to beat Auburn 79-73, earning their way into Monday night’s national championship game with Houston (8:50 p.m., CBS). When the Gators needed him most, Clayton was at his best. In a second half in which he hit 6-9 shots from the field including 3-4 from the 3-point line and 5-5 from the foul line, Clayton scored 10 of Florida’s final 13 points.
On the biggest stage of his college basketball career, Walter Clayton Jr. played the biggest game of his career, but isn’t that one of the ways greatness is defined in sports? Great players save their best games for the biggest stages. When their teams need a lift to carry them over the top great players come through.
“There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now with the ball in his hands in a big time moment,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Gators beat Texas Tech in the Elite Eight game in San Francisco.
In the big time moments down the stretch of the Auburn game, Clayton had the ball in his hands and once again he delivered. Contrast what Clayton did to the efforts of Auburn’s Johni Broome or Duke’s Cooper Flagg who were desperately needed by their teams Saturday night.
Johni Broome, the SEC Player of the Year, and second place finisher in the national player of the year voting, had 15 points and seven rebounds against the Gators, but only three points and three rebounds in the second half. Broome dominated the Gators in the paint in the first half when Auburn looked like a team that was going to run away with a semifinal win, but Florida adjusted its second half defense, preventing Broome from getting to his dominant left hand. Broome was 1-4 from the field in the second half and 1-5 from the foul line. When Auburn needed him most, Broome disappeared. He didn’t score a single point in the final 15 minutes when the Tigers were trying to stave off elimination.
In the other semifinal game, Duke led Houston by 13 points with ten minutes remaining. In those final ten minutes Cooper Flagg, the freshman phenom and a consensus national player of the year, went 1-5 from the field and 2-2 from the foul line. Five points, rebounds, one blocked shot are all he had to show as Duke let that big lead slip away. Flagg committed the foul with 19 seconds to go in the game that sent LJ Cryer to the line to shoot the two free throws that gave Houston a 68-67 lead. With eight seconds to go, Flagg’s jumper that could have won the game came up woefully short. Houston hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left to seal a 70-67 win and a berth in the championship game opposite Florida.
When the Blue Devils needed their megastar to come through in the clutch he rolled snake eyes. His Saturday night stat line read 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and three blocked shots. Impressive stats for sure, but when his team needed him to make game-winning plays there were none to be had.
Now Johni Broome and Cooper Flagg had outstanding seasons but they didn’t come through in the clutch to give their teams a shot at winning a national championship. Auburn and Duke will be watching Walter Clayton Jr. play for the national title on television tonight.
In the three games of Florida’s march to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and five games the Gators have played in the NCAA Tournament Walter Clayton Jr. has set the college basketball world on fire. He has scored 185 points (23.125 per game) while hitting 49 percent overall from the field (53-108) and 49.2 percent (32-65) from the 3-point line.
What makes Clayton’s numbers even more impressive is a sense that tells him when it’s time to take the game over. Against Texas Tech, he didn’t hit a 3-pointer until the final five minutes of the game, but he hit three that were borderline ridiculous. Closely guarded on all three, Clayton simply shot over taller defenders and found the bottom of the net. When Texas Tech tried to close him out he found Tommy Haugh for back-to-back threes as the Gators fought back from 10 down to win the game.
Some guys just know what to do and when to do it. Clayton is one of those guys.
“We trust him to take the big shots because he makes the big shots,” Richard said in the Florida locker room Saturday night. “He just seems to have a feel for when it’s the right time.”
There is one game remaining in Walter Clayton’s Florida career, tonight against Houston with the winner taking home the national championship trophy. The Cougars are the nation’s No. 1 defensive team, but the Gators are third in the nation in scoring (85.3 points per game) and No. 2 in kenpom.com adjusted offensive efficiency.
“We're a pretty elite offensive team,” Golden said “We'll lean into that and allow our guys to go out there to make some plays and see what happens.”
Of course, the player who will need to make some plays – perhaps even the most plays – is Walter Clayton Jr. If he heats up, especially in the second half with the game on the line, there is every good chance the Florida Gators will win the school’s third NCAA championship and first since the back-to-back years of 2006-07. Is Walter Clayton Jr. the greatest player in Florida basketball history? A case could certainly be made for it if the Gators win the national championship tonight.
Years ago during his Hall of Fame career, Jerry West was known as Mr. Clutch. Since that nickname is taken and since there is a 3-point shot now that didn’t exist in West’s day, perhaps Walter should be known as Lethal Weapon 3.
The name fits.
ANTICIPATED STARTING LINEUPS
FLORIDA (35-4): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195)
HOUSTON (35-4): J’wan Roberts (6-8, 235, SR); Joseph Tugler (6-8, 230, SO); Emanuel Sharp (6-3, 210, JR); Milos Uzan (6-4, 190, JR); LJ Cryer (6-1, 200, SR)
SEC IN THE TRANSFER PORTAL
Alabama: C Noah Williamson (7-0, 224, JR from Bucknell); SF Naas Cunningham (6-7, 175, FR); Taylor Bol Bowen (from Florida State); SF Mouhamed Diabate (6-7, 215, SO); SG Jalil Bethea (6-5, 190, FR, from Miami)
Arkansas: SG Melo Sanchez (6-4, 185, JR); C Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2, 235, SO, to Illinois); PG Casmir Chavis (6-0, 180, FR)
Auburn: PF Keyshawn Hall (6-7, 240, JR, from UCF)
Georgia: SG Silas Demary Jr. (6-5, 195, JR) to UConn; SF RJ Godfrey (6-7, 225, JR to Clemson); SG De’Shayne Montgomery (6-4, 190, SO); PG Jeremiah Wilkinson (from California)
Kentucky: PF Kam Williams (6-8, 190, FR from Tulane); PG Kerr Kriisa (6-3, 180, SR, to Cincinnati); Jaland Lowe (6-2, 170, SO, from Pittsburgh)
LSU: PF Noah Boyde (7-0, 245, JR); SG Vyctorius Miller (6-5, 185, FR, to Oklahoma State); SG Mike Williams (6-3, 180, SO); PF Corey Chest (6-8, 220, FR, to Ole Miss); SF Tyrell Ward (6-6, 195, JR); C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO from Mississippi State); PG Dedan Thomas (6-1, 170, SO from UNLV); SG Rashad King (6-6, 198, JR, from Northeastern); SG Max Mackinnon (6-5, 200, JR from Portland); C Daimion Collins (6-9, 202, SR); PF Marquel Sutton (6-7, 205, JR, from Nebraska-Omaha)
Mississippi State: SG Martavious Russell (6-3, 190, SO); C Michael Nwoko (6-10, 245, SO to LSU); PG Kanye Cleary (5-11, 190, JR, to Oregon State); C Jeremy Foumena (6-11, 235, SO); SF Adrian Myers (6-6, 205, FR); SG Riley Kugel (6-5, 210, JR, to UCF)
Missouri: C Jevon Porter (6-11, 235, JR from Loyola Marymount); PF Aidan Shaw (6-9, 210, JR to Boston College); SF Marcus Allen (6-7, 220, FR); C Luke Northweather (6-11, 240, RSO,from Oklahoma)
Oklahoma: SF Jacolb-Fredson Cole (6-7, 220, FR to McNeese); C Yaya Keita (6-9, 241, JR); SG Duke Miles (6-2, 175, SR); C Luke Northweather (6-11, 240, RSO, to Missouri)
Ole Miss: SG TJ Caldwell (6-4, 190, JR); PG Pop Isaacs (from Creighton); C John Bol (7-2, 210, FR); PF Corey Chest (6-8, 220, FR, from LSU)
South Carolina: SG Treyson Eaglestaff (6-6, 190, JR from North Dakota); C/PF Nick Pringle (6-10, 220, SR); SF Arden Conyers; PG Zachary Davis (6-7, 200, JR); CG Austin Herro (6-3, 180, FR); PF Christ Essandoko (7-0, 285, SO from Providence); SG Cam Scott (6-6, 170, FR); PG Jamarii Thomas (6-0, 185, SR); PG Meechie Johnson (6-2, 175, SR from Ohio State)l Kobe Knox (6-5, 185, JR, from South Florida); PF Okku Federiko (6-8, 220, FR); SG Morris Ugusuk (6-4, 170, SO)
Tennessee: PG Ja’Kobi Gillespie (6-1, 175, JR, from Maryland); C Jaylen Carey (6-8, 265, SO, from Vanderbilt)
Texas: SF Devon Pryor (6-7, 185, SO to Oregon); SF Dailyn Swain (from Xavier); SF Camden Heide (6-7, 205, SO, from Purdue)
Texas A&M: SF Rob Dockery (6-6, 215, FR); SF Jaelyn Lee (6-6, 195, SO); PF Janusz Ratowski (6-11, 225, FR); Pharrel Payne (6-9, 255, JR, to Maryland); SF Solomon Washington (6-7, 225, JR); SG Andre Mills (6-4, 200, FR); SF George Turkson (6-7, 220, FR)
Vanderbilt: SG Jason Edwards (6-1, 175, JR, to Providence); SG Jordan Williams (6-2, 215, JR); SG Alex Hemenway (6-4, 190, SR); C Jaylen Carey (6-8, 265, SO, to Tennessee); PF Jaqualon Roberts (6-8, 230, SO); PG Karris Bilal (6-2, 190, FR); SG MJ Collins (6-4, 190, JR); PF Jalen Washington (6-10, 225, JR, from North Carolina); C Mason Nicholson (6-10, 280, JR, from Jacksonville State)
Franz, I Like Walter aka “Lethal Weapon 3”
going to be a tough game- Houston is a lot like UF and wears the opponents down