The Florida Gators are national champions once again. After being down 12 points in the second half, Florida flipped the script and walked away with a gritty 65-63 win over Houston to capture their first men’s NCAA title since 2007.
Guard Walter Clayton Jr., who was scoreless in the first half, turned up when it mattered most. He scored all 11 of his points in the second half — including a cold-blooded defensive stop on the final play that kept Houston from even getting a shot off.
Houston had one last chance with 19 seconds left. Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp pump-faked at the top of the key, saw Clayton in his face and hesitated. He avoided a travel midair, but by the time a teammate could grab the loose ball, it was too late. Buzzer and ball game.
That final scramble capped a March Madness run where Florida made it a habit of coming back from big deficits — down six in the Round of 32, 10 in the Elite Eight, nine in the Final Four. Each time, they survived. Will Richard’s first-half scoring (14 points) kept them in it, and Alijah Martin’s clutch free throws in the final minute gave them their first lead since early in the game.
Barack Obama summed it up best: “What a comeback! Congrats to Walter Clayton, Jr. and the Florida Gators on their third national title. This was a fun team to watch,” he wrote on X.
For Houston, it was heartbreak. Coach Kelvin Sampson, 69, was just one win away from his 800th career victory and becoming the oldest coach to win a men’s title. Instead, Florida’s 39-year-old head coach Todd Golden celebrated under a confetti shower.
UConn makes history with 12th national championship
While the men’s game was decided in the final seconds, the women’s title game wasn’t nearly as close. UConn blew past defending champions South Carolina 82-59, snapping a nine-year title drought and securing the program’s record-setting 12th national championship.
Paige Bueckers, in her last game as a Husky, finished with 17 points and six rebounds. After years of injuries and setbacks, her storybook ending finally came to life. “To be able to sit up here with them, with the whole team and share this moment is extremely validating,” she told the Stamford Advocate.
Freshman phenom Sarah Strong dropped 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, while Azzi Fudd matched her with 24 points and earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Their dominance shut down a South Carolina team that simply had no answer.
Dawn Staley kept it real after South Carolina’s first title game loss
The Gamecocks, led by head coach Dawn Staley, couldn’t overcome UConn’s depth and firepower. It marked Staley’s first loss in a national championship game — but her postgame quote was an instant classic.
“They beat our a**, but they didn’t make us like it,” Staley said with a smirk, according to Andscape. Still, she praised her team’s fight and made it clear that South Carolina would be back in the mix soon.