All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. poured in a career-high 34 points to lead Florida to a 79-73 victory over SEC rival Auburn on Saturday night in San Antonio and guide the Gators to their first NCAA championship game since 2007.
The Gators led by just one with 2:30 to go, but Clayton scored seven points the rest of the way to set up Florida (35-4) against Houston (35-4) on Monday night for the 2025 NCAA title.
“Clayton was the difference,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “He was flat-out the difference.”
Clayton drilled 11-of-18 shots from the field, which included 5 of 8 on 3-point attempts. He also canned all seven of his free throws, as he stepped forward whenever the Gators needed him. His 34 points were the most by a victorious player in the Final Four since North Carolina’s Al Wood put up 39 in a 1981 semifinal win over Virginia.
“I just let the game come to me,” Clayton said. “I know I got a bunch of other guys around me who are threats also.”
Alijah Martin added 17 points for the Gators, who emerged triumphant in a riveting Final Four semifinal that featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes. Florida came back from an eight-point halftime deficit by forcing 12 second-half turnovers and limiting Auburn to 27 points.
Chad Baker-Mazara scored 18 points, and All-American forward Johni Broome shrugged off an early tweaking of his injured right elbow to produce 15 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and two blocks for the Tigers (32-6), the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed who sought their first trip to the NCAA title game.
“Played beautiful basketball in the first half,” Pearl said. “We were prepared. We had a great game plan and executed it really well. We only turned it over twice. The second half, Florida’s effort and energy — the fact that we’re not as deep as we normally are was a factor — and I thought fatigue was a factor.”
Florida extended its winning streak to 11 games by repeating its 90-81 victory Feb. 8 at Auburn, but it wasn’t as easy as the teams’ first meeting.
Auburn opened a 49-40 lead early in the second half, but the Gators strung together 11 straight points — a Will Richard 3-point play, a Clayton 3-pointer, a Martin 3-pointer and a Clayton driving layup — to claim a 51-49 edge with 15:30 to play.
Auburn’s defense clamped down and held Florida scoreless for nearly four minutes to regain a 55-51 lead. That included two Denver Jones free throws after he took a Rueben Chinyelu elbow to the right ear that was upgraded to a flagrant 1.
Auburn managed just 12 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half, but Baker-Mazara swished a 3-pointer with 7:31 left to give the Tigers a 61-60 lead and trigger a physical, spine-tingling finish.
Martin threw down a ferocious dunk over Baker-Mazara in transition to build a 66-63 lead for Florida with 5:27 remaining, but Baker-Mazara answered with a pair of free throws. Clayton drilled a 3-pointer, so Jones responded with a triple of his own to make it 69-68 Gators with 4:01 to play.
While Auburn never caught up, Florida didn’t clinch it until Clayton sank two free throws with nine seconds left.
The Tigers and Gators started the game as if it was a sprint to 100 points as both teams came out running and trying to exchange big blows. Auburn went to Broome for a post-up on the game’s first possession. Florida responded with Clayton flushing a 3-pointer.
The lead changed hands six times in the first five-plus minutes — capped by Baker-Mazara’s 3-pointer that gave the Tigers a 16-14 lead at the 14:48 mark.
During the furious early stretch, Broome winced and clutched his ailing right elbow with 16:32 on the clock while trying to defend Chinyelu’s aggressive post move. While he appeared to favor it thereafter, it didn’t affect his performance.
After the first media timeout, the defenses stiffened, and the tempo slowed as the teams combined for just 20 points over the next eight minutes. Broome racked up two blocks and a steal during this stretch.
Auburn claimed the first half’s biggest lead — 40-31 with 2:31 to go — when Broome posted up on back-to-back possessions and worked for layups. The Tigers took a 46-38 lead into the break thanks to a 26-14 edge in the paint.
“I thought Auburn played great in the first half,” said Florida coach Todd Golden. “We did some nice things, but we did not have an answer for their physicality in the paint. They were 13 of 18 from two.”
That featured a team-high 12 points from Broome, but the powerful lefty only scored three in 18 second-half minutes as he went 1-for-4 from the field and 1-for-5 at the line.
“Here and there, (the elbow) was bothering me a little bit, but nothing I couldn’t play with,” Broome said. “I feel like we got the looks that we wanted to get. I wasn’t able to capitalize and finish them.”
–Field Level Media
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