National champions! Florida Gators take down Houston, 65-63

SAN ANTONIO – As the clock ticked off the final seconds Monday night, Alex Condon made the play of his life to preserve Florida’s 65-63 heart-stopping win over the Houston Cougars for the NCAA basketball championship at the Alamodome.

Condon didn’t hit a buzzer beater shot or make free throws, but rather dived on the floor, stretching his 6-11 frame as far as it would go to secure a loose ball that he flipped up to Walter Clayton Jr. as the clock flatlined at 0:00. There was no time for thinking, hardly any time to react but Condon did what he always does in practice.

Loose ball. Dive for it.

“Totally instinctive,” Condon said in the Florida locker room. “Ball’s on the floor, only one thing to do. Dive for it. I got my hands on it and Walt was there. Next thing the horn is blowing.”

The sequence that led to Condon’s game-saving play made for the most bizarre ending of a national championship game since 1993 when Michigan’s Chris Webber called a timeout the Wolverines didn’t have, ensuring Dean Smith and the North Carolina Tar Heels would win the title.

Florida took a 64-63 lead with 46.5 seconds remaining on a pair of Alijah Martin free throws. Plenty of time for the Cougars, who came from six down in the final minute to beat Duke in a Saturday semifinal. Only problem was the Gators surrounded Emanuel Sharp along the baseline and he dribbled the ball off his knee with 26.5 left on the clock.

After Houston fouled Denzell Aberdeen with 19.7 showing, Aberdeen hit the second of two free throws to make it 65-63, a shaky 2-point lead against a team that bombed in several clutch threes in its comeback from a 14-point deficit against Duke. The Cougars called time out to set up a play that would either tie or win the game.

With a little more than three seconds to go, Sharp went up for a long 3-pointer at the top of the key only to find Walter Clayton Jr. flying at him. Rather than risk getting his shot blocked, Sharp dropped the ball on the floor. If he touched it again it would have been a walking violation and Florida basketball. Condon ended all doubt about the outcome with his dive for the ball.

“I seen a lot going on,” Clayton said. “Felt like we were going to get something from (LJ) Cryer or (J’Wan) Roberts. Sharp kind of creeped down to the baseline. I seen a back screen. I’m yelling at Do (Condon). Sharp ended up slipping it, set elevator screens. We work on it in practice, closing out, jumping to the side so you don’t foul the shooter. He pump faked, threw the ball down, ended up being a good play. Do got on it. We won the game.”

From Florida coach Todd Golden’s angle “the last play was just absolutely an amazing play. “Walter recovered, closed out, as he said, flew right by his right side to not allow himself to foul. Sharp … understood he couldn’t touch the ball or else it would have been a turnover. Then Condo did what he does a lot, which is get physical, dive on the floor, make a winning play getting on that loose ball.”

Condon’s play capped a win from a 12-point comeback and the most ridiculous sequence of fouls called against the Gators all season. During a span of 56 seconds starting with 18:33 remaining in the game, the Gators were whistled for five fouls and a technical on Golden. In the aftermath of all the whistles, Houston held a 42-30 lead with 17:37 left and the Gators seemed dead in the water.

Up to that point, Clayton hadn’t scored a single point and the Gators had turned the ball over 12 times.

The comeback began with 15:25 left on a dunk by Condon off a pass from Clayton. Twenty-eight seconds later, Clayton got on the board with a pair of free throws to cut the margin to eight, 42-34. Houston pushed the lead back out to 11 but then came the Cougars big run-in with the zebra crew of Ron Groover, Doug Sirmons and Terry Oglesby.

Will Richard scores over Houston's Uzan (Photo by Chris Spears)

Within a 9-second span, Houston was assessed three fouls that completely killed any momentum it might have had. Florida responded after the third foul call with a second chance layup by Aberdeen, a 3-pointer by Martin and a spectacular play by Tommy Haugh. Haugh blocked an attempted stepback three by Cryer. Will Richard retrieved the ball and got it ahead to Haugh who drove in for a layup and was fouled. Haugh nailed the free throw and that 12-point lead had dissipated to three, 45-42, with 12:06 left in the game.

Houston responded with a 3-pointer by Cryer with 11:29 to go, but the Cougars were obviously feeling the heat. Houston came into the game ranked No. 1 in the country defensively, but the Cougars found out they aren’t the only ones capable of playing defense at an elite level. Houston wouldn’t make another shot from the field until there was 6:24 to go in the game.

Florida was just warming up.

Clayton scored his first points from the field with 7:54 to go on a drive to the rack on which he was fouled. When he hit the free throw that tied the game at 48-48, it was game on.

“Walt saw the ball go through the net with some free throws and the and-one layup,” Golden said. “I thought that loosened him up a little bit. After that we were starting to get some good stuff, hit some shots, get downhill and get to the foul line. We were able to flip the game and the momentum a little bit.”

Clayton got another 3-point play with 7:02 remaining that tied the game at 51-51. Houston wasn’t dead yet, pushing ahead by three, 60-57, with 4:21 to go.

Again, it was Clayton with the response, his first and only 3-pointer of the game that tied the score at 60-60 with 3:14 to go. A tip-in by Cryer and a free throw by Joseph Tugler sandwiched two Will Richard free throws, putting Houston ahead 63-62 with 2:05 to go.

That was the last time the Cougars would lead. From that point on, it was all about Florida’s defense.

Richard blocked a shot with 1:28 to go and Condon got a steal after Tugler grabbed an offensive rebound. Martin got free throws to give the Gators the lead, Sharp dribbled the ball off his knee, Aberdeen hit a free throw and then Sharp put the ball on the floor with Condon making the diving save.

What a way to end a game.

The Gators led for only 1:03 in the entire game, but they were ahead when the final horn sounded and that was all it took for the Gators to win their third national championship, their first since 2007, the second of back-to-back titles.

This game was a grind against a team that controlled the tempo with its defense and slower paced offense. Florida’s ability to adapt to whatever style of play the other team dictated came through once again. To win the national championship, the Gators had to play an elite defensive game, something they didn’t get enough credit for during the season.

“We’ve gotten a lot of credit for our offense because we’ve been so explosive all year, been one of if not the top two offenses in America all year,” Golden said. “We’ve been a top 10 defense all year, also. We’ve been able to stand up against really good offensive teams and find a way to get stops.

“I thought Houston got the better of us in the first half. It was really just a disparity in the turnover count. We had nine. I think they had two in the first half. As I look here, we had four in the second half, they had seven. Our defensive won us the game tonight. We got nine straight stops in the middle of the second half.”

The Gators held Houston to 24-69 shooting overall from the field (34.8 percent), 6-25 from the 3-point line.

Clayton, who had scored 30 or more back-to-back managed only 11 but he contributed five rebounds, seven assists and a blocked shot as well. For his efforts he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

“They were guarding Walter and the other guys pretty hard,” Richard said. “Walt had seven assists. Even when they were guarding him so hard, I feel like he still made plays to help the team win. Just a good job by the team staying aggressive throughout that.”

If there was an offensive hero for the Gators it was Richard, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half when he connected on 4-6 from the 3-point line. Richard also had eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

“Tonight was one of those nights for Will,” Clayton said. “He showed it multiple times this year. Never know whose night it’s going to be, and we showed that as a team.

And of course, there was Condon, who scored only one point in Florida’s semifinal win over Auburn. Against Houston, Condon had 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

In a jubilant Florida locker room, Tommy Haugh put the game in perspective.

“We won the national championship because we’re a real team that doesn’t care who scores the most points or stuff like that,” Haugh said. “The only thing we care about is winning. We’re national champions.”

All-Tournament team: Walter Clayton Jr., Florida (Most Outstanding Player); Will Richard, Florida; LJ Cryer (Houston); J'Wan Roberts (Houston); Cooper Flagg (Duke)