For the fourth time in school history, the University of Florida Gators are headed to the national championship game.
Florida knocked off No. 1 overall seed Auburn in Saturday’s Final Four matchup in San Antonio, defeating the Tigers 79-73.
This is the second time this year these two teams played, with Florida previously beating Auburn 90-81 on the road in the regular season.
The Gators were led by star guard Walter Clayton Jr, who shot 11-for-18 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc to finish with 32 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Meanwhile, Auburn star and Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome was held to just 15 points and seven rebounds – with just three of those points coming in the second half.
Florida is back in the title game for the first time since 2007 – when they won their second of back-to-back national championships.
The Florida Gators are off to the national championship game for the fourth time in history
Walter Clayton Jr. (1) led all scorers with 34 points, four rebounds, and two assists on the night
Auburn’s star forward, Johni Broome, couldn’t perform down the stretch and only got 15 points
Auburn, meanwhile, has lost their second Final Four game in as many appearances. They last reached the Final Four in 2019, falling to eventual national champions Virginia.
The Tigers were led by Chad Baker-Mazara – who put up 18 points while shooting 60 percent from the field. Fellow guard Denver Jones also managed 10 points, but shot 3-for-9 from the field.
Freshman Tahaad Pettiford, who has shown brilliance throughout the season and has come up clutch in big moments, wasn’t able to produce that tonight as he shot 1-for-6 from the field and only had seven points.
As for Florida, guard Alijah Martin is off to his second Final Four in his career after previously reaching this stage with Florida Atlantic in 2023. He lost on a buzzer beater to San Diego State that year, but this time, his 17 points provided a major boost for the Gators.
Forward Thomas Haugh was the final Gator to hit double-digits as he put up 12 points and seven rebounds.
Gators coach Todd Golden, who had previously been subject to a stalking investigation earlier this year, beat his former boss – Auburn coach Bruce Pearl – to reach his first national title game.
After going into halftime down 46-38, Florida held Auburn to just 27 second half points. While the Gators shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, the Tigers only managed to hit a third of their shots.
It was in the second half where Clayton found his stride – hitting 6-of-9 shots (including 3-of-4 from deep) to put up 20 points and pull the Gators out of their deficit.
Auburn was led in the game in points by guard Chad Baker-Mazara – with 18 on the night
Florida had double-digit point contributions from Thomas Haugh (L) and Alijah Martin (R)
Clayton came alive in the second half – with 20 points, three rebounds and an assist
When his team needed him the most, Broome wasn’t able to produce as he shot 1-for-4 and got in foul trouble.
Baker-Mazara led the Tigers in second-half points with 10, but after relinquishing the lead on a Haugh layup to make it 64-63 Florida with 6:31 remaining, Auburn just couldn’t gain the lead back.
Now, Florida is set to play in the title game one more time. In addition to the back-to-back titles, they reached this stage in 2000 – where they fell to the Mateen Cleaves-led Michigan State Spartans.
They await the winner of Houston-Duke to see who they’ll be playing for a national title.
