It didn’t take long for the Auburn lead to disappear. The Gators came out of halftime with a huge intensity on defense, and in about two minutes, Will Richard made a layup and was fouled for a old-fashioned three-point play. Then, Walter Clayton Jr hit a three-pointer, Alijah Martin hit a three-pointer, and Walter Clayton Jr made a layup to go on an 11-0 run and take the lead.
It stayed close for the rest of the game, but Florida seemed to have Auburn rattled. Maybe the biggest thing that happened in the second half was that the Gators stopped Johni Broome – after scoring 12 points in the first half, he only got 3 points in the second half.
With about 4 1/2 minutes left, Walter Clayton Jr hit a wild three-point shot to give the Gators a 4 point lead, but Denver Jones answered with a three of his own to cut the lead back to 1. Both teams managed to lock each other down on defense as the game also seemed to get awfully physical. But Clayton Jr would eventually finish off a drive to the basket to give the Gators a three-point lead.
With 2 minutes left, Johni Broome drove to the basket and was fouled on a dunk attempt by Alex Condon. Then, the referees started reviewing for an off-the-ball flagrant foul. During the review, you could see Auburn holding a Florida defender from helping on Broome’s drive, but since it didn’t meet the criteria of a flagrant foul, the foul on Condon stood.
In a classic ball-don’t-lie moment, the All-American forward then missed both free throws, and in a wild scrum for the ball, it got hit out by Johni Broome through the legs of a Florida player. It looked like the ball might have hit the shorts of the Florida player, but with the ball not really changing rotation, they ruled that the call on the field stood – it was Florida ball.
In what might have been one of the biggest plays of the game, with the shot clock counting down, Walter Clayton Jr drove to the basket, got fouled by Denver Jones, and hit an acrobatic shot off the backboard. After Clayton hit the free throw, Florida had a 6 point lead.
Chad Baker-Mazara missed a three-pointer, but the Auburn defense was relentless at half court and they stole the ball from Alijah Martin. Auburn made a great drive to the basket and kicked out to Baker-Mazara for a three-pointer. But Alex Condon made a fantastic close-out forcing Baker-Mazara into a travelling violation.
This time, Florida was able to break the press but as the Gators tried to hit a lob pass for a dunk, Auburn blocked it out of bounds. On the inbounds, the Gators struggled to get the ball in and a jump ball was forced – but Florida retained possession. This time, they force the ball into Thomas Haugh who fought for the ball, went up for a layup and made it while getting fouled. He would miss the free throw, but Florida was now up 8.
Auburn rushed down the court, and as the announcers were saying you need to drive to the basket and get quick points, Chad Baker-Mazara threw up a three pointer from the wing to prove everyone wrong and cut the lead to 5. And then, they trapped Alijah Martin in the corner to force another jump ball – this time, giving the ball to Auburn.
But Miles Kelly would miss the three-pointer, Thomas Haugh would get the rebound and make one of two free throws to extend the lead to 6. Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford would drive all the way to the hoop and get fouled by Alex Condon – who fouled out. Pettiford hit both free-throws and it was still a 4 point game.
With 12 seconds left, Auburn fouled Thomas Haugh, and the normal 81% free throw shooter who had already missed 2 free throws went and missed both free throws! But Rueben Chinyelu (who had just checked in for Condon who fouled out) skied over everyone to get the offensive rebound, kick the ball out to Walter Clayton Jr, and force Auburn to foul again.
Clayton Jr calmly drilled both free throws, Tahaad Pettiford missed a desperate three-pointer, and the clock would run out on the Tigers.
Walter Clayton Jr finished the game with 34 points, and Alijah Martin added 17 points (including a couple of thunderous dunks) to help lead the Gators to the championship game. Congratulations to Florida on their 79-73 victory in the first semi-final game. Now the Gators will wait and see if they will be playing the ACC champion or the Big 12 champion for the National Championship on Monday. Hopefully, the Duke / Houston game will be as good as the first semi-final!!!