Florida climbed out of a 12-point deficit in the second half to win the program’s third national championship in a 65-63 comeback victory over Houston on Monday night.
SAN ANTONIO—The Gator boys stayed hot.
Florida managed to outlast fellow No. 1 seed Houston in the national championship game Monday night, defeating the Cougars 65-63 despite trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half. It was the third significant comeback in as many games for Florida, trailing Auburn by nine and Texas Tech by 10 in the previous two rounds.
“It’s a heck of an accomplishment,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “I’m super proud of everybody in my program, top to bottom.”
Will Richard led the Gators with 18 points, while Final Four Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. had 11 points and a game-high seven assists in the win. LJ Cryer led all scorers with 19 points for Houston, and he was the only Cougar in double figures.
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"GATOR BOYS STAY HOT!" pic.twitter.com/A9USUgqv8m
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The Cougars led throughout much of the first half, but the lead was rarely ever more than two possessions. Houston looked poised to break the game open with an 8-0 run in the span of 45 seconds to go in front 29-21 — keyed by a Cryer 3-pointer followed by five straight points from Mylik Wilson — but the Gators stopped the bleeding and managed to trail by just three points at the break.
Richard had 14 points for the Gators in the first half, including a perfect 4-of-6 mark from distance. Unfortunately for Todd Golden’s squad, the rest of the team went just 0-of-8 on its threes. Meanwhile, the star of the team, Clayton, was held scoreless throughout the first stanza.
“I understand that if it ain’t my night, somebody’s going to pick me up,” Clayton said. “We understand we’re all just picking each other up throughout the year, man. We’ve been doing that all year.”
On the other hand, Houston wasn’t much better from beyond the arc. The Cougars were just 2-for-14 in the first half, but they capitalized on nine Florida turnovers to help stay in front.
Early in the second half, the tide turned further in Houston’s favor when Florida was called for four quick fouls, including two on Richard, followed by a technical foul against the Gator bench.
The Cougars made one free throw to push the lead to seven, and then Cryer gave Houston the game’s first double-digit lead with a 3-pointer right out of the inbounds to go up 40-30 with 17:20 remaining. J’Wan Roberts soon pushed the lead to 12.
Suddenly, Florida was facing its largest deficit of the tournament. After the game looked fairly even at the break, Houston had all the momentum going into the first media timeout of the second half.
Almost as suddenly, Florida was right back in it by the under-12 timeout. The Gators used an 8-0 run to get the game to 45-42 — and the game was either tied or within one possession for the next several minutes. The vintage Florida second-half charge was in motion.
Cryer quickly pushed the lead back to six with his fourth triple of the game, but the Cougars couldn’t get anything going offensively for a long stretch. At the same time, Florida continued to chip away at the lead, and Clayton’s old-fashioned three-point play brought the game level with just under eight minutes to play.
When another technical foul against Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu threatened to turn things back in Houston’s favor, Clayton tied the game with another and-1 play at the basket. The Cougars continued to hold the Gators at bay thanks to buckets from Emmanuel Sharp and Ja’Vier Francis, but Clayton tied the game once again with a big 3-pointer with just over three minutes in regulation.
Cryer made one of the plays of the game by getting a tip-in bucket in a sea of bigger players to put Houston back on top. Still, Florida remained undeterred.
LJ Cryer tips it in for the lead!pic.twitter.com/FUcscJpLE9
— Heat Check CBB (@HeatCheckCBB) April 8, 2025
After forcing Houston into turnovers under the basket on consecutive possessions, Alijah Martin hit a pair of free throws to give the Gators a 64-63 edge with 46.5 to play, their first lead since 8-6 early in the first half. On the ensuing possession, Sharp lost the ball again for another Cougar turnover — their third in the span of a minute.
Despite nearly turning the ball over themselves, the Gators went up 65-63 after Aberdeen hit one of two free throws with 19.7 to go. Then, Sampson called perhaps the most important timeout of his storied career.
Whatever he drew up never came to fruition. Houston was stymied at the perimeter, eventually getting the ball to Sharp for a prospective game-winning 3 — but a perfect close-out by Clayton forced Sharp to abandon his shot in mid-air, leading to a mad scramble for the loose ball as time expired.
Somehow, after trailing or being tied for nearly 39 minutes of the national championship game, the Florida Gators were cutting down the nets in San Antonio.
THE FLORIDA GATORS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 🐊 pic.twitter.com/bvSRhcQRao
— Heat Check CBB (@HeatCheckCBB) April 8, 2025
It is the third national championship for the University of Florida, which won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 — a feat not repeated until the past two UConn teams did it. Perhaps fittingly, the Gators were the ones to keep the Huskies from making it a three-peat this year.
As for 39-year-old Todd Golden, the Florida skipper now becomes the youngest head coach since Jim Valvano to win a national championship. For those keeping score at home, Valvano’s 1983 NC State team also won in an instant-classic nailbiter and also broke the hearts of, you guessed it, the Houston Cougars.
“I’m proud of the way our players performed,” Golden said. “I’m proud of the way our staff prepared our guys to become national champions.”