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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Coach Todd Golden cut the final strand of the net, waved it to the crowd and performed the famed Gator Chomp.
A celebration that seemed completely improbable just a few minutes earlier was in high gear. Florida is heading back to the Final Four.
Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to beat Texas Tech 84-79 in the NCAA Tournament's West Region final on Saturday.
“It goes to show how together we all are,” Clayton said. “Many times could easily just break, start pointing the finger, blaming each other for this and that. But we just stayed together through the end and stayed the course. And thankfully we got it done today.”
The Gators (34-4) trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes to play before staging a furious rally against the third-seeded Red Raiders (28-9), who had done the same in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas.
Clayton dribbled out of the paint and hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds left to give Florida a 78-77 lead, and the Gators held on from there to advance to their first Final Four since 2014 in Golden’s third season. Florida will face the South Region champion — either Auburn or Michigan State — next Saturday in San Antonio.
“There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment,” Golden said. “The biggest thing in those moments is you need to have somebody that wants to take those shots. They’re obviously difficult plays, but someone that has the confidence to step up and make incredible individual plays. Walter did that for us tonight.”
The comeback provided a happy ending to Golden's return to the Bay Area, where he played in college at Saint Mary’s and got his start as a head coach at San Francisco.
As the final horn sounded, Golden turned to the Gators fans and demonstrably pumped his fist as his players rushed out to the court to celebrate.
“It’s crazy," forward Thomas Haugh said. “I feel like I’m dreaming. I was watching the round of 64 in the eighth grade sneaking my phone into science class watching it. Now to say I’m playing in the Final Four is wild. It’s wild.”
Clayton, who began his college career at Iona, scored 30 points to lead the Gators. Thomas Haugh added 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, including the two 3-pointers that started the comeback.
Clayton then tied it with his shot from long range after Texas Tech missed a second straight front end of a one-and-one as Golden called for the Gators to foul early to prolong the game.
“It was a calculated decision we had to make at that point where we needed to get more possessions in the game and it worked out well for us,” Golden said.
After Darrius Williams scored down low for Texas Tech, Clayton's last 3 put Florida ahead to stay, and the Gators sealed it at the foul line.
Williams missed two 3s late. He had sank the game-tying basket late in regulation and game-winner in the closing seconds of overtime against Arkansas on Thursday night.
“I wish I could change a few plays that happened,” Williams said. “But can’t go back and do that. I thought we could win until it hit zero.”
Texas Tech fell just short of its second Final Four trip ever after being on the wrong side of a late-game comeback. The Red Raiders rallied from 13 points in the final five minutes to beat the Razorbacks in the Sweet 16.
Williams scored 23 points to lead Texas Tech and JT Toppin added 20.
The game was tight most of the way with neither team able to build a lead bigger than six points for the first 30 minutes as Texas Tech capitalized on turnovers and second-chance points and Florida repeatedly got to the foul line. Clayton got fouled twice on 3-pointers early in the second half, leading to five points on the six foul shots.
The Red Raiders went on a 12-2 run to go up by 10 but couldn’t hold on late.
Up next
The Final Four appearance will be Florida's sixth. The Gators won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and '07 under coach Billy Donovan.
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