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With three minutes left in Saturday’s Elite 8 matchup between top seed Florida and three seed Texas Tech, the Red Raiders led the Gators 75-66 and had a 95.6% chance of winning.
Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh had other plans. They combined to hit five 3s to help the top seed Gators close the West Region final on an 18-4 run for a 84-79 win and a date in Florida’s first Final Four since 2014.
Clayton scored 13 of his game-high 30 points in the final six minutes, earning West Regional MVP. Haugh’s 20 points, including back-to-back 3s to cut the Texas Tech lead to one, and 11 rebounds put him on the West Region All-Tournament team.
Clayton’s Clutch Gene
Clayton has the most points scored of any player in March Madness with 89 through four games. He continues to bail out the Gators (34-4) when they are trailing in the tournament. In the Round of 32 against the two-time defending champion Uconn Huskies, Clayton hit two dagger 3s to give the Gators the lead after trailing for the first 17 minutes of the second half.
The Elite 8 was no different. In the final three minutes of the game, he hit three 3s that willed the Gators against the Red Raiders (28-9) .
“A couple of shots went in they [Texas Tech players] kind of turned around and looked at their bench like how,” Clayton said.
The 3s that Clayton is hitting are not your typical 3-point shot. Clayton thrives off the dribble with a defender in his face. Clayton’s daggers have been contested with his momentum going away from the basket. The 3 that gave the Gators a 78-77 lead with a minute to go was over two Red Raiders, after dribbling from the paint to the free throw line — likely the shot of Clayton’s career.
“There is not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big moment,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “The biggest thing in those moments is you need to have someone who wants to take those shots … someone that has the confidence to step up and make incredible individual plays.”
Unselfishness
Haugh would be a starter on 363 teams in men’s Division 1 basketball, but on the Gators he comes off the bench. Instead of complaining about a lack of starter minutes, Haugh has embraced his role.
On the defensive side of the ball, Haugh brings a length and toughness that forces tough buckets from opposing bigs. He understands the scouting report and forces bigs to their weak side. His active hands force turnovers and he is a relentless rebounder on both sides.
Offensively, his shooting has improved. Less than a year ago, he was a 25.5% 3-point shooter and a 45.7% free-throw shooter. His 3-point percentage has improved to 35%. His free-throw percentage? It nearly doubled to 81%. Haugh has turned to a player who teams need to respect from the 3-point line. He shot 4 of 6 from 3 against Texas Tech. Florida would not keep dancing if it was not for the play of the sophomore from Pennsylvania.
Basketball is a simple game. Sometimes you just need your best players to make the ball go through the net.
Five championship shots from Walter Clayton Jr. and Thomas Haugh. pic.twitter.com/X2Jz2Qfmnt
— Lucas Dolengowski (@LDolengowski) March 30, 2025
“The thing about Tommy … he is a winning player,” Golden said. “He finds ways to impact the game and to help the team win. He could be starting for any team in America.”
Golden Meets Mentor
The first Final Four game between the SEC powerhouses is set for 6:09 p.m. Saturday in the Alamodome on CBS and ESPN Gainesville 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF and 103.7-FM. Florida will have to face Auburn (32-5), which is coached by Bruce Pearl, who hired Golden to be the Tigers’ head of basketball operations in 2014. Florida beat the Tigers in Auburn 90-81 on Feb. 8. Now it’s the SEC regular-season champion Tigers vs. the SEC Tournament champion Gators.
The winner of this matchup will go on to face the winner of Saturday night’s other national semifinal between Duke (35-3) and Houston 34-4) in the national championship game Monday night.
