By advantage of scheduling, Florida turned the primary of 4 SEC faculties with a possibility to succeed in the Remaining 4 in what may effectively be remembered because the best basketball weekend in convention historical past. The Gators, seeded first within the West, had arrived at this level by pulling away from fourth-seeded Maryland within the Candy 16 earlier this week. They entered Saturday’s date with No. 3 Texas Tech on the precipice of the nationwide semifinals, a spot this system hadn’t been since former head coach Billy Donovan was nonetheless prowling the sideline in 2014, the penultimate season earlier than he ascended to the NBA. No season between then and now had captivated the fan base fairly like this one, which included 33 wins in 37 video games forward of the Elite Eight, together with an SEC Event title, and a string of 9 consecutive victories relationship to March 1. It was straightforward to grasp why the Gators had been a stylish nationwide championship decide for observers and analysts alike.
Standing between Florida and the Remaining 4 was a set of Purple Raiders that wanted a heroic, late-game comeback — plus extra time — to beat Tenth-seeded Arkansas within the Candy 16. Head coach Grant McCasland’s workforce trailed by 16 factors with 10:23 remaining earlier than cobbling collectively a frantic rally that culminated in an additional session. JT Toppin, Darrion Williams and Christian Anderson all topped 20 factors that night time to maintain Texas Tech’s season afloat. And the Purple Raiders acquired one other enormous enhance on Saturday afternoon when it turned clear that capturing guard Likelihood McMillian, who averages 14.2 factors and 4.1 rebounds per recreation, would return to the court docket in opposition to Florida after lacking 5 video games with an indirect harm. The stage was set for a battle between two groups ranked among the many high 9 within the nation by KenPom.
A nip-and-tuck first half ended with Florida carrying a three-point lead into the break, at which era this system’s streak of 28 consecutive victories when main at halftime — tied for the longest such streak within the nation — got here squarely into play. May Texas Tech, which had important disadvantages in peak and high quality depth in comparison with the Gators, mount a second-half cost whereas relying so closely on perimeter capturing and second-chance factors? Or would a weekend that may embrace a sequence of SEC coronations start with Golden’s workforce pulling away within the latter levels, simply because it did in opposition to UConn and Maryland within the previous two rounds?
The solutions to these questions got here within the type of a shocking, punishing 12-2 run by the Purple Raiders that bridged the halfway level of the second half. It was throughout that sequence when the inside trio of Williams (23 factors, 5 rebounds), Toppin (20 factors, 11 rebounds) and Federiko Federiko (4 factors, two rebounds) started punishing Florida within the low publish with an onslaught of physicality and offensive rebounding that, ultimately, prompted Golden to name a timeout in hopes of stopping the bleeding. A flurry of buckets on the inside, a lot of which stemmed from isolation performs by Williams, helped push Texas Tech’s sudden result in 10 factors with 7:49 remaining, saddling the Gators with their largest deficit of the event as the potential of an upset intensified. When Florida was dinged for a shot-clock violation shortly thereafter, Golden put each palms on his head earlier than slapping a close-by object in frustration.
However then Florida started doing the factor that Florida all the time does: igniting from 3-point vary with such ruthlessness and rapidity that its opponent cannot probably get well. Thomas Haugh (20 factors, 11 rebounds) made back-to-back 3s within the span of 33 seconds. Walter Clayton Jr., who made a number of clutch pictures to gasoline the comeback in opposition to UConn final week, buried two extra 3s within the span of 48 seconds, along with his second shot approaching an unbelievable turnaround after he retreated again behind the arc from the center of the lane. Such heroics, such a backbreaking 16-2 run gave the Gators a one-point lead with lower than a minute remaining in a recreation they by no means once more trailed. Clayton scored 22 of his game-high 30 within the second half, together with 13 factors within the remaining 5:24.
The smash-and-grab conclusion produced an 84-79 remaining rating that left Texas Tech surprised and stupefied. However extra importantly, it despatched Florida to the Remaining 4.
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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