Florida Edges Houston in Final Seconds to Claim NCAA Title
65-63 win gives Florida 3rd National Championship
Florida senior Walter Clayton Jr. delivered a last-second defensive stop to seal the 65–63 victory over Houston in Monday night’s NCAA championship. The win marks Florida’s first national title in over a decade and ends the Cougars’ bid for their first-ever championship.
The Gators trailed by 12 points early in the second half but battled back, leading for just 64 seconds of the game—including the final 46. It was the fourth comeback win in Florida’s tournament run, which saw them finish the season 36–4.
Houston, who finished 35–5, was left stunned. The Cougars had the ball for the final possession but failed to attempt a shot. Head coach Kelvin Sampson called the sequence “incomprehensible,” a heartbreaking end for a program still chasing its first title since the days of Phi Slama Jama.
The win is the first NCAA men’s basketball championship for the SEC since Kentucky’s title in 2012. The Conference had placed a record 14 teams in this year’s tournament.
