By Ken Cross
The Florida Gators can be down, but they are never out as they proved once again in Saturday night’s 84-79 win over Texas Tech in the West Regional Final in San Francisco. Florida found itself behind the Red Raiders, 75-66, with 3:14 remaining before guard Walter Clayton and forward Thomas Haugh began Florida’s sprint to it’s first Final Four since 2014.
“I’m really proud of these guys for the way they stepped up and made two big threes each down the stretch,” commented Golden. “I think we finished the game on a 17-4 run. That allowed us to win. Would not have happened without these guys (Clayton and Haugh) next to me.”
Clayton led all scorers with 30 points and Haugh added 20 with four threes and 11 rebounds.
Texas Tech forward JT Toppin scored on a layup, the Gators were behind 75-66 with 3:14 to play.
Florida then took command as Haugh nailed a pair of triples before a Clayton three tied the game at 75-75. Guard Darrion Williams gave Texas Tech it’s last advantage before Clayton hit another triple to give the Gators the lead for good at 78-77 with 59 seconds to play.
Haugh is a tough matchup as he can step out from the post to nail the three or make the major pass inside of an offensive set. He shoots 35.1 percent from three and averages 2.2 assists per game while his length and size make him an inclusive defensive piece and a consistent rebounder.
“I think that just goes to show the togetherness of the team, the love we have for each other to get through those tough times, because we went through tough times during the summer, through practice, stuff like that,” Clayton said. “But stay the course, like you said, ‘The Gator Mentality.'”
Florida’s idea to foul during that run allowed Toppin and Williams to miss the front end of one-and-ones and the Gators answered with the triples on the next possessions.
Florida features a strong-nine man rotation with Clayton as the leader and different Gators come through in timely situations to make them one of the toughest assignments in college basketball.
“Many times, (we) could easily just break, start pointing the finger, blaming each other for this and that,” said Clayton. “But we just stayed together through the end and stayed the course and thankfully, we got it done today.”
Red Rage: Texas Tech finished the season at 28-9 as the Red Raiders were one of the nation’s most efficient teams on both sides of the basketball.
On Saturday, they led for around 25 minutes before the Gators mounted their game-deciding drive.
“These guys won the most road games in the Big 12 for the Red Raiders,” said coach Grant McCasland. “Won the most conference games in the Big 12 for the Red Raiders, and they just were like always finding ways to win games through tough circumstances.”
Williams led the Red Raiders with 23 points while Toppin added 20 and Texas Tech outscored Florida 22-5 off of 12 Gators turnovers.