Clayton Jr. Shakes Off Rust In Home Loss

Despite an 83-82 home loss to unranked Missouri on Tuesday night, No. 5 Florida has to be happy about the performance of its star player. 

The Gators’ success significantly depends on Walter Clayton Jr.’s ability to score the basketball. Number 1 finished Tuesday’s outing with 28 points, shooting 9 of 19 from the field.

Condo threads to Walt for the slam 📺#GoGators | 📺ESPNU pic.twitter.com/UTsH3hySmf

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 15, 2025

Overcoming Recent Struggles

What stood out about Clayton’s performance was his efficiency, shooting 47% from the field. He was attacking the rim from the perimeter with ease, which led to high-percentage shots or fouls. Clayton led all players with nine free throws attempted, cashing in seven. 

Clayton’s efficiency came as a sigh of relief for Florida fans. In his previous two games before Tuesday’s contest, Clayton was the lowlight. He shot 4/15 for 12 points against Arkansas and 3/10 for 7 points against Tennessee.

The senior also limited his turnovers against Missouri (14-3, 3-1 SEC). After averaging four a game in his past three, Clayton cut that number down to two Tuesday night. 

In arguably his best game of the season, Clayton showed why he has earned the respect of the SEC. 

“That kid is a potential player of the year.” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “He’s very impactful. You can read the stat line and obviously see that.” 

Costly Missed Free Throws

Clayton was 6/6 from the free-throw line until he was fouled on a 3-point shot with 2:30 left in the game down five. Making two or three of the foul shots would have made the contest a one-possession game. Instead, the 85% free-throw shooter only made one, and the Gators lost by one. 

“It was very uncharacteristic,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “But the reality is that was one possession of a probably 75-possession game. It is easy to point at things like that when you lose by one, but that was definitely not the reason why we lost.”  

Whether the outcome of the game would have changed if Clayton made his down-the-stretch free throws or not, it is errors like these that plagued Florida  (15-2, 2-2) all night. This year, SEC men’s basketball is arguably one of the best conferences of any sport in NCAA history. Clayton and his teammates cannot afford to make mistakes like these in future SEC contests.