Part V: A journey to a national title; March brings out the greatness in UF

Alex Condon blocks a shot against Texas A&M (Photo by Chris Spears)

They call it March Madness for a reason. This is the month in which truly great teams prove their worth. What happens from November until the final day of February is just the undercard. The heavyweight fight begins starting March 1 as the regular season schedules start winding down, leading up to the conference tournament. What happens in those days leading up to the NCAA selection committee announcing who’s in and who’s out is just the start of the craziness that rivets the entire country every single year.

There was no question Florida would make the NCAA Tournament when February bled into March but that unexpected loss to Georgia had many of the experts questioning if the Gators were tough enough to make a deep run. The loss put the double bye of the SEC Tournament in jeopardy and it caused bracketologists Joe Lunardi (ESPN) and Jerry Palm (CBS) to move the Gators off their No. 1 lines. With three regular season games remaining the Gators still had much to prove

There was an army of doubters both regionally and nationwide who questioned if the Gators could hang with the bluebloods and handle the pressure of March. If the Gators were doubting or feeling the pressure, they surely didn’t show it. They were embarrassed by the loss to Georgia, but all that game did was strengthen their resolve and narrow their focus. The Gators never stopped believing they were going to be great.

The team that wins the national championship has to go 6-0 over three consecutive weekends. Good teams fall by the wayside. The great teams survive and advance, but to get to the NCAA Tournament, the Gators first had to conquer the obstacles of the final three regular season games and then the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

What was it going to be for the Gators? Good? Or great? The first step on the journey to greatness began in Gainesville on the first day of March against Texas A&M. 

March 1, 2025, Gainesville, Florida

Playing the Aggies reminds me of that famous quote by Mark Twain who said, “Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” The Aggies turn every game into a rock fight. They drag opponents down to their level and then they do indeed beat you with their experience.

Coming off that disappointing loss to Georgia, this game makes me nervous. Buzz Williams needs a big win to right his listing ship. The Aggies were in conversations about being a No. 2 NCAA seed but their ship is listing. They need a big win in the worst way and the Gators seem ripe to go down for the second time in the week. It’s bare knuckles time. The Aggies have come to the O-Dome.

The Aggies’ strategy isn’t exactly rocket science. The game plan is to take Walter Clayton Jr. out of the offense and take their chances that no one else will catch fire. On paper it works well. In real life, it doesn’t work because Will Richard goes into a shooter’s coma and the Gators completely dominate the Aggies on the inside.

The Gators take complete control in the final nine minutes of the first half when they expand their lead from four (25-21) to 11 (45-34) at the break. Clayton isn’t scoring, but Alijah Martin (12), Will Richard (8) and Tommy Haugh (8) pick up the slack.

Any hope the Aggies have of a comeback is crushed in the first four minutes of the second half when Richard scores Florida’s first eight points. Richard has one of those shooter’s coma games, hitting 6-9 from the 3-point line and grabbing six rebounds as part of a 25-point night. When Richard isn’t bombing away, the Gators outmuscle the Aggies in the paint.

Kenny Cross, longtime friend and exceptional basketball writer for Lindy’s, tells me during a time out, “The Gators are out-Aggie-ing the Aggies.”

Alex Condon, in his second game back since the ankle sprain, scores 11 with nine rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and a steal. Haugh scores 17 with three rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and two steals. Micah Handlogten only scores two points, but he is a wall defensively, finishing with eight rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots, two steals and several intimidations.

The Gators make a believer out of Buzz Williams.

“I think at the rim they may be the best I have seen and I have been doing this a long time,” Williams says. “They are perfect.”

Williams declares the Gators legitimate national championship contenders.

This was a very good Florida win, and certainly, the Gators were beastly on the inside, but was it their best game of the year? Hardly, but it did prove once again, this is more than just a one-man gang. Clayton can take games over, but he has plenty of help.

The Gators are 25-4, 12-4 in the SEC.

Alex Condon scores on Bama's Grant Nelson (UAA Photo)

March 5, 2025, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

The offensive philosophy of Alabama coach Nate Oats isn’t rocket science. Three-pointers and layups. That’s it. Outlining Florida’s defensive strategy to counter the Crimson Tide, Todd Golden says, “Obviously, we’re going to try to make them operate in the mid-range, try to make them take shots they’re not comfortable with or strive to take.”

It isn’t uncommon for Alabama to take 40 or more threes in a game, but on this day, the Gators are very good running them off the line and making them take what Golden calls “tough twos.” Alabama shoots only 25 3-pointers. Alabama All-American Mark Sears scores 30 in the game, but he’s only 2-10 from the 3-point line. That proves critical as No. 5 Florida (26-4, 13-4 SEC) gets a huge road win, 99-94, over No. 7 Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC) that clinches the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament no matter the Senior Night outcome against Ole Miss.

Alabama has no one who can contend with Alex Condon on the inside. He destroys the Tide with 27 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and two blocked shots. He gets plenty of help on the inside from Rueben Chinyelu (9 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals), Tommy Haugh (12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block) and Micah Handlogten (2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal).

The Gators outrebound Alabama 50-35, prompting Oats to declare, “We knew they were a tough rebounding team. We’re usually better than that, when we go into a game knowing we got the rebounds. It seemed they beat us to about every 50-50 ball. They obviously destroyed us on the glass.”

Walter Clayton Jr. was like the conductor of a great symphony orchestra the way he controlled the ebb and flow of the game. He scored (22 points) and found teammates for eight assists. He turned the ball over only once.

It was a Clayton three with 15:55 remaining that started the Gators on a 31-13 run that decides the outcome. During that flurry, Clayton is all over the place with eight points, three rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Sears may have outscored Clayton, but Walt leaves no doubt who is the best guard in the SEC and the entire country.

Bama had a little flurry in the final minute to make this one closer than it really was. When the clock flatlines at 0:00, Alabama, which once was ranked No. 1 in the nation, is gasping for air and the Gators are making a case that they’re the best team in the country.   

Walter Clayton Jr. scores on Ole Miss (UAA Photo)

March 8, 2025, Gainesville, Florida

Senior Night is emotional. Not only is it Florida’s last home game of what is turning into a rather remarkable season, but it’s time to say good-bye to Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. All three arrived at UF through the portal, but all three bleed orange and blue. Richard transferred from Belmont to become Todd Golden’s first recruit three years ago. Clayton was next, arriving from Iona to return to his home state in the spring of 2023. In the spring of 2024, Alijah Martin became the missing piece of what Clayton has dubbed “the best backcourt in the country” by transferring in from Florida Atlantic.

Against an Ole Miss team that arrives in Gainesville on the heels of a win over Tennessee, the Gators catch fire in the second half and blow the doors off the Rebels, 90-71. Clayton has a statement game – 23 points (5-11 on 3-pointers), five rebounds, eight assists and a blocked shot – with 13 coming in the second half when the Gators turn a 1-possession game into a 20-point lead over an 8-minute span.

Todd Golden calls it “spurtability” when the Gators take games over at both ends of the court, leaving very good opponents in the dust. A 14-0 run when the Gators went from three ahead to a 54-37 lead was orchestrated by Clayton who got things going with a layup, a 3-pointer and an assist for an Alex Condon layup.

“Walter had a stretch there where he was unguardable, and really kind of took the top off the defense,” Golden said. “And, you know, once we were able to get out to that run, you know, we felt pretty good about it the rest of the way.”

Martin closed out the O-Dome portion of his Florida career with 13 points, five rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and three steals. Richard chipped in with 10 points and three rebounds.

For the third straight game, the Gators own the paint and the backboards. Led by Alex Condon (17 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal) the Gators outrebound Ole Miss 48-36. Contributing to the domination are Rueben Chinyelu (7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal), Tommy Haugh (7 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) and Micah Handlogten (2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) the Rebels are pounded into submission.

“They can dribble, pass and shoot,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. “They can playmake just enough. They have an NBA point guard in Clayton, and then the bigs just come in swarms. They do a great job of the four-man rotation, keeping guys fresh so they can rim-run and seal.”

The Gators are 27-4, 14-4 in the SEC. They don’t play until the Friday quarter-finals.

March 11, 2025

Who is the idiot that didn’t vote Walter Clayton Jr. first team All-SEC? The coaches All-SEC team was announced and while Clayton did make first team it wasn’t unanimous. It would be great if the SEC made the coaches’ votes public. At least one coach has either the brain function of the single cell creatures that emerged from scummy ponds to evolve billions of years ago or else he kept Clayton off for spite.

Whatever, Clayton is the type who won’t say a word, but beneath the silence a fire will burn. Walt knows how good he is and so does everybody else, but when things like this happen, a fire of disrespect blazes in his belly.

Alex Condon makes third team. Should have been second. No All-Defense for Will Richard and/or Alijah Martin?

March 13, 2025

The coach that didn’t vote Walt first team All-SEC should be grabbed by the lapels and slapped silly. Walter Clayton Jr. made first team All-America. First team All-America and he isn’t first team All-SEC?

This happens far too often to Florida athletes. Go back to football season. Center Jake Slaughter didn’t make first, second or third team All-SEC as voted by the coaches, yet he was first team All-America.

Jake will be back to make people pay in the fall. As for Walter Clayton Jr., his payback will come over the next nine games.

Alijah Martin soars high for a dunk against Missouri (UAA Photo)

March 14, 2025, Nashville

The Gators arrive in Nashville ranked fourth nationally and deserving of a No. 1 seed. The opponent for Friday night’s quarter-final of the SEC Tournament is 22nd-ranked Missouri, which beat the Gators in the O-Dome back in January. Expectations are a white knuckler among the national media.

The Florida Gators have other ideas, among them payback. The Gators played this one in spurts in which they looked clearly like the best team in the country, and others in which they appeared beatable. Think of it like a yo-yo effect. When the Gators were up they were very, very good. When they were down, they played like a bored team.

It was like Lucy Van Pelt holding the football for Charlie Brown. Every time the Tigers thought they could rally past the Gators for the kind of win that could propel them to a top four NCAA seed, the Gators had answers as they moved on to the SEC Tournament semifinals with a 95-81 win.

By the first media timeout the Florida backcourt had already made a statement. Will Richard scored eight of Florida’s first 15 points. Alijah Martin had a three and an assist and Walter Clayton Jr. had two points, a steal, a rebound and an assist. Florida’s 15-4 lead gave way to a Mizzou rally that lends to those earlier white knuckles predictions, but Richard, Martin and Clayton once again make their presence known.

Leading 28-24, the Gators outscore Missouri 22-13 the rest of the half with Clayton going off for seven points, one rebound, three assists and a steal; Martin getting an assist and two points; and Richard scoring five and getting a steal. At 50-37, the Gators seem to be well on their way to a blowout.

Prosperity gave way to boredom. Mizzou rallied to within four (64-60) with 13:14 left in the game but the Gators pushed it back out to 10 (74-64) when Martin dunked to finish off a fast break with 9:02 remaining. Missouri got back within five (75-70) but that was like flipping the enough is enough switch. The Gators outscored Missouri 20-11 the rest of the way.

Clayton led the Gators with 18 points, three rebounds, six assists, a blocked shot and two steals. Richard and Martin each scored 17 while Tommy Haugh had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal.

March 15, 2025, Nashville

Florida’s 104-82 SEC Tournament semifinal win over Alabama evoked memories of Wile E. Coyote riding an Acme rocket in an attempt to catch up with the Roadrunner. Thanks to the rocket, Wile thought he had Roadrunner within his grasp except for one teensy problem. Roadrunner stopped on a dime at the edge of a cliff. The rocket and Wile whizzed by. No brakes to stop and a mile-deep canyon below. The rocket ran out of fuel and Wile  crashed to the bottom of the canyon.

For the fourth straight game (two in 2024, a third game 10 days earlier) Alabama thought it could run with the Gators. For awhile the Crimson Tide was rocket propelled but then the rocket ran out of fuel and the Tide crashed and burned.

Bama led the Gators 48-47 with 18:46 left in the game when the rocket engine sputtered the first time. Four minutes later, the Crimson Tide was in a heap at the bottom of the canyon and the Gators were ahead 64-50. From there it only got worse.

Florida scored 57 second half points on the way to an SEC Tournament-record 104. Six Gators scored in double figures, part of a 55.88 percent shooting day that included 44.4 percent from the 3-point line. Bama meanwhile shot a miserable 11-35 (31.4 percent) from the 3-point line.

“We kept coming in waves in the second half,” Todd Golden said. “I thought we did an incredible job of wearing them down.”

Mark Sears, who was a unanimous first team All-SEC performer, scored nine. Walter Clayton Jr., who made first team All-America and yet wasn’t a unanimous All-SEC first team, scored 22 with three rebounds, six assists and three steals. Clayton hit 6-11 from the 3-point line and didn’t turn the ball over.

With 16 each were Will Richard and Alijah Martin. Denzel Aberdeen and Tommy Haugh both scored 11 while Rueben Chinyelu had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Micah Handlogten grabbed 10 rebounds.

The way the Gators handled Alabama all but guaranteed the Gators would be one of the four No. 1 seeds when the NCAA announced the field a day later. Florida manhandled an Alabama team that would be a No. 2 seed, wearing down the Crimson Tide with speed, quickness, unselfishness, physicality and depth. The Gators didn’t have a single player on the floor for more than 30 minutes.

“I think it really speaks to first of all the depth of our team, second just the unselfishness of our group,” Golden said. “That is why we are who we are. We have good individual players. What makes this team special and gives us a chance to play deep into March and hopefully early April is our unselfishness, our willingness to make the extra pass. When it's opportunistic for other guys to take the shots, to move the ball to them. We just have a mature, unselfish group that way.”

Walter Clayton Jr. was the SEC Tournament MOP (UAA Photo)

March 16, 2025, Nashville

A year ago, the Gators got to the championship game of the SEC Tournament in Nashville only to lose to Auburn. Think of that game as the Gators knocking at the door.

A year later, it was the Gators and Tennessee facing off for the SEC Tournament title and, according to so many experts, the fourth No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Think of what happened at Bridgestone Arena as the Gators kicking the door down.

For all practical purposes this was a home game for Tennessee. Among the more than 19,000 in attendance, creamsicle orange was the dominant color, but that was about all Tennessee dominated. This was Florida’s game, not only to win the first tournament of the brief Todd Golden era at UF but to secure a No. 1 seed.

“Really, I just think we continue to prove what we have been all season, which is being one of the best teams in America, continuing to show we can beat any team in America,” Golden said after the Gators put down the Vols, 86-77. “When we’re playing like this, I think we are the best team in America.”

In winning their 30th game of the season – only the fourth time in Florida history that has happened – the Gators dominated the backboards, played great defense and never let Tennessee get over the hump even when the Vols staged a couple of second half rallies that made it a close game. When Tennessee trimmed Florida’s once 13-point lead to five (65-60) with 7:39 left in the game, Walter Clayton Jr. got to the foul line where he hit both shots and then drilled a three with 6:49 left to stretch the lead back to eight (70-62).

The Vols were never the same again.

Although he had plenty of help – four other Gators scored in double figures – Clayton was the difference-maker and the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. In many ways this was a redemption game for Clayton who scored 20 points combined in the two regular season games the Gators and Vols split.

In the championship game, Clayton had 22 to go with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Richard, named to the All-Tournament team, had 17 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Alex Condon had 13 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal, and Alijah Martin finished with 10 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

The Gators outrebounded Tennessee 39-25 and outscored the Vols 32-20 in the paint.

March 16, 2025

Just a few short hours after the Gators won the SEC Tournament, the NCAA selected its tournament field, awarding the Gators the No. 1 seed in the West Regional. Overall, Florida was the No. 4 seed which meant the Gators were on the same side of the bracket as Auburn, which was the No. 1 overall seed.

Florida’s first and second round games were assigned to Raleigh with Norfolk State in the first round and the winner of UConn and Baylor in the second.

Tomorrow: Rounds one and two in Raleigh as Florida’s march to a national championship begins.