SAN ANTONIO – What wasn’t said won Florida its first national championship in 18 years Monday night.
The No. 1 seed Gators, stubborn and battle-worn, wiped away a 12-point second-half deficit on their way to a 65-63 defeat of Houston that wasn’t supposed to end like this if it looked like this.
If styles make fights, this one matured as Houston wanted. Tempo, complexion, even atmosphere — inside a Cougar-friendly Alamodome — all favored the team in red and white. Even Houston coach Kelvin Sampson admitted as much postgame.
This was supposed to be the way the Cougars won, not the way Florida won. And yet, when the final seconds expired Monday night with Alex Condon stretched out on the floor and Walter Clayton Jr. leaping into Micah Handlogten’s arms, it was the Gators who could celebrate because they’d done what no one was supposed to be able to do:
They’d out-toughed Houston.
“Our guys knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Didn’t panic when it got tough,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “We got rewarded because of that toughness.”
For long stretches of both halves, fellow No. 1 seed Houston looked like it had outmaneuvered the Gators, as well as outworked them.
Florida turned the ball over seven more times in the first half. Clayton, the NCAA Tournament’s most outstanding player, didn’t score for the first 25 minutes. Houston stuck Florida’s free-flowing Ferrari of an offense in heavy traffic, eventually stretching its lead to 12 points early in the second half.
The Gators’ last lead was 8-6, with 15:37 remaining in the first half. Their first lead of the second half was 64-63, with 46 seconds left in the game.
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In between, Florida endured the same dark night of the soul Houston inflicts on so many of the teams it beats. Playing Sampson’s team at its best must feel like being pulled slowly down into a pool of quicksand, and for long stretches of Monday night, Florida looked like it was sinking.
And that never fazed the Gators. They’d been in the muck before.
“We like to give the fans a scare,” sophomore forward Thomas Haugh said on the court afterward, smiling. “We like to keep it interesting sometimes.”
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In a tournament criticized for its lack of unpredictability, Florida delivered the excitement.
The Gators trailed UConn by six with less than 10 minutes left in the second round. They erased a late nine-point deficit against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, in 87 seconds. Auburn led by as many as nine in Saturday’s semifinal, and Houston looked for all the world like it had a first-ever national championship in sight Monday.
“The way we looked tonight, we’ve won a lot of games like that,” Sampson said. “Some nights we struggle offensively. We usually find a way to win. Tonight, we didn’t.”
Because Florida said no. Because Florida came back. Because against the toughest team in America, Florida was tougher.
Per ESPN, the Gators are the only national champion in the last 20 years to overcome deficits of at least nine points in the Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship game.
Their opponents’ win probabilities crested at 94.4% (Texas Tech), 81.2% (Auburn) and 89.8% (Houston) in that stretch. Monday’s comeback was the joint-third largest in national title game history.
“Our guys have been really good all year staying the course,” Golden said. “In this tournament, especially after the first round, every team you play is going to be really, really good. You’ve got to have incredible toughness.”
Which is why, in those crucial moments when the cliff edge came into view, and Florida could have been forgiven some panic, none showed. The Gators’ silence spoke volumes.
No impassioned speeches in huddles. No come-to-Jesus during media timeouts. No pointed pep talks when Clayton (who came alive late and finished with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds) struggled, or when those turnovers mounted, or when a team with one technical foul on its ledger all season picked up two in one game.
Just the marrow-deep belief that eventually, Florida’s quality would show, and the determination to keep going until it did.
Houston was supposed to win this way. Houston was built to win this way. On Monday night, America found out Florida was built just a little bit better.
“We didn’t have to pump those guys up,” Golden said. “It was more just, let’s get back to being ourselves and do what we do. They don’t need those words of encouragement. It’s embedded in their DNA.”
Now, so is a national championship.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on X: @ZachOsterman.
