Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
By virtue of scheduling, Florida became the first of four SEC schools with an opportunity to reach the Final Four in what could well be remembered as the finest basketball weekend in conference history. The Gators, seeded first in the West, had arrived at this point by pulling away from fourth-seeded Maryland in the Sweet 16 earlier this week. They entered Saturday’s date with No. 3 Texas Tech on the precipice of the national semifinals, a place the program hadn’t been since former head coach Billy Donovan was still prowling the sideline in 2014, the penultimate season before he ascended to the NBA. No season between then and now had captivated the fan base quite like this one, which included 33 wins in 37 games ahead of the Elite Eight, including an SEC Tournament title, and a string of nine consecutive victories dating to March 1. It was easy to understand why the Gators were a trendy national championship pick for observers and analysts alike.
Standing between Florida and the Final Four was a collection of Red Raiders that needed a heroic, late-game comeback — plus overtime — to beat 10th-seeded Arkansas in the Sweet 16. Head coach Grant McCasland’s team trailed by 16 points with 10:23 remaining before cobbling together a frantic rally that culminated in an extra session. JT Toppin, Darrion Williams and Christian Anderson all topped 20 points that night to keep Texas Tech’s season afloat. And the Red Raiders received another huge boost on Saturday afternoon when it became clear that shooting guard Chance McMillian, who averages 14.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, would return to the court against Florida after missing five games with an oblique injury. The stage was set for a battle between two teams ranked among the top nine in the country by KenPom.
A nip-and-tuck first half ended with Florida carrying a three-point lead into the break, at which time the program’s streak of 28 consecutive victories when leading at halftime — tied for the longest such streak in the nation — came squarely into play. Could Texas Tech, which had significant disadvantages in height and quality depth compared to the Gators, mount a second-half charge while relying so heavily on perimeter shooting and second-chance points? Or would a weekend that might include a series of SEC coronations begin with Golden’s team pulling away in the latter stages, just as it did against UConn and Maryland in the preceding two rounds?
The answers to those questions came in the form of a stunning, punishing 12-2 run by the Red Raiders that bridged the midway point of the second half. It was during that sequence when the interior trio of Williams (23 points, five rebounds), Toppin (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Federiko Federiko (four points, two rebounds) began punishing Florida in the low post with an onslaught of physicality and offensive rebounding that, eventually, prompted Golden to call a timeout in hopes of stopping the bleeding. A flurry of buckets on the interior, many of which stemmed from isolation plays by Williams, helped push Texas Tech’s unexpected lead to 10 points with 7:49 remaining, saddling the Gators with their largest deficit of the tournament as the possibility of an upset intensified. When Florida was dinged for a shot-clock violation shortly thereafter, Golden put both hands on his head before slapping a nearby object in frustration.
But then Florida began doing the thing that Florida always does: igniting from 3-point range with such ruthlessness and rapidity that its opponent can’t possibly recover. Thomas Haugh (20 points, 11 rebounds) made back-to-back 3s in the span of 33 seconds. Walter Clayton Jr., who made several clutch shots to fuel the comeback against UConn last week, buried two more 3s in the span of 48 seconds, with his second shot coming on an incredible turnaround after he retreated back behind the arc from the middle of the lane. Such heroics, such a backbreaking 16-2 run gave the Gators a one-point lead with less than a minute remaining in a game they never again trailed. Clayton scored 22 of his game-high 30 in the second half, including 13 points in the final 5:24.
The smash-and-grab conclusion produced an 84-79 final score that left Texas Tech stunned and stupefied. But more importantly, it sent Florida to the Final Four.
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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