March Madness 2025: Walter Clayton Jr. stars as No. 1 Florida breaks No. 8 UConn’s tourney win streak

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Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points in Florida’s comeback win over UConn in the NCAA tournament on Sunday. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

One of the longest men’s NCAA tournament win streaks in modern college basketball is over at 13.

No. 1 Florida crept ahead of No. 8 UConn in the final minutes for a 77-75 win over the two-time defending national champions. The Gators didn’t lead at all in the second half until Walter Clayton Jr.’s 3-pointer with 2:54 to go gave Florida a 62-61 edge.

Clayton then almost sealed the game less than two minutes later when he nailed two free throws and made another 3-pointer with 1:03 to go to give the Gators a six-point lead.

Clayton starred for the Gators on Sunday like he has all season. The former Iona player and second-year Gator had 15 points in the second half on the way to a 23-point performance. He was 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

His two free throws came as Florida struggled from the stripe in the second half. But the Gators got two massive offensive rebounds when they needed them most. Clayton’s trip to the line was set up by an offensive board off a missed Alex Condon free-throw attempt. And when Condon missed another free throw with 44 seconds to go, Alijah Martin followed with a dunk to give the Gators an eight-point advantage.

Florida’s issues at the line allowed UConn to hang around after that dunk, but Thomas Haugh officially put the game away with two makes with five seconds to go. The Gators were 15-of-27 at the free throw line in the second half and 22-of-34 for the game.

The game was tied 31-31 at halftime despite a terrible shooting performance from the Huskies in the first half. Their tenaciousness kept the game competitive as UConn was just 11-of-34 from the field.

Things improved in the second half, but not by much. And UConn couldn’t get shots to fall when they needed them as Florida hung around. UConn grabbed a 50-44 lead with 10:17 to go but never led by more than one possession for the final 6:45.

There…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball/article/march-madness-2025-walter-clayton-jr-stars-as-no-1-florida-breaks-no-8-uconns-tourney-win-streak-183147581.html

Author : Nick Bromberg

Publish date : 2025-03-23 18:31:00

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