The championship game followed one of the most exciting, hard-to-believe matchups in Final Four history. In the first national semifinal, Florida overcame a halftime deficit behind another gem from senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. to score a 79-73 win in an all-SEC pairing with rival Auburn.
In the second, Houston pulled off a memorable comeback to shock favored Duke, which was seemingly in firm control deep into the second half before losing 70-67. The Blue Devils’ meltdown marked the second-largest second-half collapse in Final Four history.
Now that the Gators have cut down the nets, let’s look back at the biggest winners from the Alamodome:
Winners
Florida
As against Auburn, the Gators needed to dig out of a hole to beat Houston. The Cougars set a physical tone early and made Florida earn everything, only to hand the game away with an inept performance near the basket and sloppy shooting from the free-throw line. But winning while playing Houston’s style speaks to Florida’s brilliance, which went largely unrecognized for much of the regular season, lost in the shadow cast by the many title contenders in the SEC. While clearly more comfortable in a run-and-gun setting, the Gators played the Cougars’ game and came out on top. The team’s 36 wins tie Florida’s 2014 squad for the most wins in program history.
Walter Clayton Jr.
After becoming the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to score at least 30 points in the Elite Eight and national semifinals, Clayton disappeared in the first half against Houston, failing to score a single point while struggling to get to his spots on the perimeter. But he came back with 11 points in the second half to pace the win while chipping in seven assists, five rebounds and a block and a steal. While not the scoring explosion from the earlier rounds, Clayton’s play helped deliver the national title. Overall, his performance ranks among the best by a guard in recent tournament history.
The SEC
It was a dominant regular season for the SEC, resulting in a record 14 teams chosen for the tournament, four teams in the Elite Eight and a pair in the Final Four. Florida’s win was a fitting way to end the year. The title is the league’s first since 2012, ending a painful drought.
Cooper Flagg
Yes, he was called for a crucial foul on a rebound attempt with 19 seconds left, sending Houston’s J’wan Roberts to the line for two free throws to put the Cougars ahead by a point. He then missed the possible go-ahead jumper from just inside the key to seal Houston’s win. But Flagg was still the game’s most impactful player, stuffing the box score with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals. Overall, Flagg’s play throughout the tournament solidified his place as one of the best freshmen in recent NCAA history and as the undisputed top prospect in this year’s draft class.
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Losers
Houston
There might have been one moment when a Houston win on Monday night seemed highly likely, if not certain: The lead was 42-30 after J’wan Roberts made a short hook in the paint with 16:24 to play, seemingly leaving Florida on the verge of collapse. The Cougars’ offense basically disappeared from there as the Gators flipped the script and made every possession a fight to the finish. While UH has established itself as one of nation’s elite programs, this latest Final Four setback joins losses to North Carolina State in 1983 and Georgetown a year later.
Duke
The favorite to win the national championship heading into Saturday night, Duke was in complete control against Houston at the eight-minute mark of the second half and then again with just 2:15 remaining. Ahead by nine with those 135 seconds to play, the Blue Devils coughed up perhaps the greatest collapse in Final Four history. More than just a devastating meltdown, the way Duke handed this game away will end up defining what was otherwise a banner year for freshmen Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach. This team will be remembered as one of the most talented to come up short of the national championship and for an epic breakdown that will linger in March Madness history.
Jon Scheyer
Given how he’s so adeptly stepped into Mike Krzyzewski’s shoes and maintained Duke’s place as one of college basketball’s elite programs, there’s no reason to think Scheyer won’t make another Final Four appearance – multiple trips, in fact. As with other coaches who have suffered legendary tournament defeats in recent history, such as former Virginia coach Tony Bennett and Purdue’s Matt Painter, another deep postseason run next season could quickly erase the loss to Houston and permanently establish Scheyer as one of the faces of the sport. But what happened on Saturday night will always be a part of his legacy; how large that looms depends on where the Blue Devils go from here.
Auburn
The most puzzling aspect of the loss to Florida was how easily the Gators handled Auburn’s perceived edge in the paint. While an advantage early, helping put the Tigers up by eight at halftime, that evaporated amid Florida’s 11-0 run quickly into the second half. From that point forward, as during Auburn’s 90-81 loss during the regular season, the Gators were able to establish the pace of play and essentially take what they wanted on the offensive end. The lack of an interior presence down the stretch highlighted the Tigers’ lack of creative scorers in the backcourt to match Clayton and Florida guard Alijah Martin. While reaching the second Final Four in program history is commendable, Auburn’s faceplant in the second half was highly disappointing.
Johni Broome
The All-America forward scored 12 points in the first half but only three in the second, hitting on just 1-of-4 attempts from the field and just 1-of-5 from the free-throw line, to embody Auburn’s failures on the offensive end. That the Gators were able to throw waves of defenders at the senior clearly affected his energy level: Broome “had a lot more energy in the first half,” freshman Florida forward Alex Condon said postgame. But Broome was also playing with a right elbow injury, and while heavily wrapped and padded it was obvious the game’s physicality began to wear on him after halftime.