The 2025 March Madness National Championship game did not disappoint. Florida defeated Houston in a close match 65-63. This win helped Florida secure their 3rd NCAA National Championship. While on the other end, Houston was seeking their 1st ever National Championship. The Florida gators showed their perseverance late in the second half.
This high scoring Florida team was down 3 points at halftime with the score being 28-31. Houston known for elite defense shut the gators down in the first half and pretty much all game until the final 10 minutes. Houston had taken a double digit lead in the 2nd half leaving the Florida fans bitting their nails.
Floridas star player Walter Clayton Jr. who is known for his great shooting was held to 0 points in the first half. But that did not stop him from making plays on the defensive side. Clayton finished with just 11 points, but ended up making the biggest play on defense. With the Gators up 2 with 20 seconds left, the Cougars were settling for the last shot. Houston guard Emanuel Sharp jumped and tried to attempt a game winning 3 in the final seconds.
Clayton jumped to block the ball and Sharp dropped the ball and was unable to pick it up because we would be called for a Travel. Sharp watched the ball sit there until the clock turned 0 and thats when the Gators were announced National Champions.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson would have been the oldest coach to ever win a National Championship. But instead, Florida head coach Todd Golden was named the youngest coach to ever win the title.
Florida’s Will Richard had 18 points and some huge shots down the stretch to help the Gators win and to help them secure their 3rd championship, their last one since 2006, 2007 back to back National Titles.
It was a defensive brawl all night, and Clayton got the worst of it due to Houstons Pressure. He was 0-4 in the first half and his first bucket came with 14:57 in the second half off of free throws.
We usually hear about how good the Florida offense is with a PPG average of 85.4, but in this game it was all about there defense. They showed the nation that they were the best team because they can win in high scoring games with their offense. And they can also win low scoring games with their defense. That is what National Championship teams can do, and Monday night they proved that.
Houston Guard L.J. Cryer had a great game, leading all scores with 19 points, but unfortunately he couldn’t do it all. Florida had 3 players (Clayton, Condon, Richard) with double figure points while Houston only had 1 (L.J Cryer). Houston didn’t do enough on the offensive end to get it done.
Box Score:
Notable Houston Players: Juan Roberts 8 pts, 8 reb. Joseph Tugler 5 pts, 4 reb. Milos Uzan 6 pts, 5 reb, 1a ast. Emanual Sharp 8 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast. L.J. Cryer 19 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast. Ja’Vier Francis 8 pts, 6 reb. Mylik Wilson 9 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast. Terrance Arceneaux 1 reb.
Notable Florida Players: Rueben Chinyelu 3 pts, 5 reb. Will Richard 18 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast. Walter Clayton 11 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast, Alijah Martin 7 pts, 1 reb. Alex Condon 12 pts, 7 reb. Thomas Haugh 5 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast. Denzel Aberdeen 7 pts, 2 reb. Micah Handlogten 2 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast