Florida Men’s Basketball Survives, Advances In NCAA Tournament

Walter Clayton Jr. and No. 1 seed Florida ended UConn’s pursuit of a third straight national championship Sunday, with the All-American senior guard burying two key 3-pointers in the final three minutes of a scintillating 77-75 victory for the Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.

Clayton finished with 23 points as No. 3-ranked Florida (32-4), one of the favorites for this year’s title, survived a strong challenge from coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies (24-11), who came in with modest expectations as a No. 8 seed but led for most of the second half before losing after 13 consecutive wins. Clayton made 5 of 8 from 3-point range to lead Florida to its eight consecutive win and snap a five-game losing streak to the Huskies.

Florida advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and will play four seed Maryland (27-8) in the West Region semifinals in San Francisco at 7:39 p.m. ET Thursday (TBS, 103.7-FM) at the Chase Center. No. 11-ranked Maryland beat 12 seed Colorado State 72-71 on a last-second basketball Sunday night in the other second-round game.

UConn was seeking to become the first team to three-peat since UCLA’s run of seven straight titles from 1967-73.

The Huskies won the 2023 title in Houston and last year in Glendale, Arizona, joining Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) as the only schools to win back-to-back since the Bruins’ run under John Wooden.

The Huskies’ defense stymied the Gators for most of the game, holding Florida to 35% shooting through the first 30 minutes to build a 52-46 lead.

UConn twice fail to corral offensive rebounds off missed Florida free throws down the stretch, leading to points for the Gators. But even when Florida seemed to have the game in hand, UConn kept fighting. Thomas Haugh’s two free throws with 5.9 seconds left pushed the lead to five.

Liam McNeeley’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sailed skyward and dropped through the net as the horn sounded.

McNeeley led UConn with 22 points, and Alex Karaban scored 14. Alijah Martin contributed 18 points for UF and Richard had 15.

Florida coach Todd Golden has resurrected the program in a span of three years, but he had never won a March Madness game before this year. He was the coach of the San Francisco Dons before taking the Florida gig. Golden returns later this week seeking to help the Gators gain a Final Four berth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.