The No. 1 seed Florida Gators made a late comeback to avoid an upset Sunday, surviving a close call against the defending champion No. 8 seed Connecticut Huskies with a 77-75 win.
The Gators did not lead for the first 17 minutes and six seconds of the second half, but finished the game on a 19-14 run to escape with the victory.
The hero for Florida down the stretch was senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Clayton Jr. hit a 3-pointer to give the Gators their first lead of the second half with two minutes and 54 seconds to go, then scored five more points in the last two minutes to ice the game.
The Huskies played inspired defense to nearly pull off the upset, forcing Florida into 12 turnovers. Connecticut’s offense was inconsistent all day, however, connecting on only 37.5% of its 64 field-goal attempts. The Huskies also made only 8 of 29 shots from deep.
The offense was especially problematic late — for a stretch that lasted over five minutes in the second half, Connecticut failed to make a field goal, opening the door for the Gators’ comeback.
The Huskies were led in scoring by freshman forward Liam McNeely, who had 22 points in the losing effort. Florida was led by Clayton Jr., who finished with 23 points, including 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range.
After winning back-to-back national championships, Connecticut failed to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2022.
The Gators, on the other hand, are in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 — the furthest head coach Todd Golden has made it into the tournament in his career. They will face the winner of Colorado State vs. Maryland.
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