Closing time: Walter Clayton Jr. shoots Florida after Texas Tech to go to Final Four

San Francisco – Since he was compared earlier this week to the favorite shooting game 3 points from the Bay region, it is logical that in a tight match, with the hopes of the national championship of his team which move away, Walter Clayton Jr. would be the one to take – and to do – the biggest plan of the night.

Florida heads for the Final Four after a victory of 84-79 against Texas Tech, and this is largely due to the shooting of Clayton.

After two consecutive tech tech failures from Texas Tech, Clayton fell back, stopped and drained a 3 with 1:47 to play, equaling the score at 75 with the biggest shot of his career.

Or maybe the biggest shot was that Clayton at 3 points affected 48 seconds later, after Tech took over, 77-75. This makes Florida the advance, 78-77, then, after a missed 3 by Darrion Williams of Tech, some free throws in Florida and another missed 3 by Williams, Clayton entered online with 10.2 seconds to play, his team in possession, 80-77. He drained both.

Clayton, however, does not remember much of that. Asked about these shots thereafter, with his championship hat standing on his head and a piece of the net rolled around the snapback, he was brutally honest: “I sort of blackened”, he admitted.

But everyone in the gym will surely remember this performance. The senior goalkeeper of Florida, who was appointed most remarkable player in the West region, finished with 30 points, eight in the last 107 seconds. He also went 13 out of 14 of the line, including 11 out of 12 in the second period.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that before these two huge 3, Clayton was only 1 out of 6 of Deep. That he would intensify and strike shots when his team needed it most, in fact, very similar to Steph Curry.

“There is not another player in America that you prefer at the moment that Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big moment,” said Florida coach Todd Golden, a draped towel on his shoulders after a shower of obvious festive water bottle in the locker room.

“As he said, he blackens or something else – he does not become too high or too low. He does an excellent job controlling his emotions. Most players at that time, their heart rate rises.

Or, as Thomas Haugh said, making a gesture to Clayton: “With guards like these, the games are never finished.”

Texas technology coach Grant McCasland said that he had “not done a good enough job while keeping the ball out of the hands of Clayton” these last five minutes, praising the guard for his trick and his change of rhythm, who make him “such a hard blanket”.

Tech did almost everything for 38 minutes, but the missed free throws gave life to the Gators, and the daylight ribbon that Clayton found in his height was sufficient to win the match.

Clayton said he was locked in the game and that he did not absorb the size of these shots. But he noticed that when he finally managed to free himself and connect to certain looks, the technological players turned to their disbelief, throwing their hands and asking: “How?”

The Red Raiders finished 7 out of 13 from the Launcère Francs line (54%). The Gators were 25 out of 27 (93%).

“This is not what made us beat,” said McCasland about missed shots. “We pushed the tempo a little too late in the match.”

This is the first trip of the Gators to the promised land of university basketball since 2014.

This was one of the Crayy Tournaments in the NCAA in almost two decades. The eight teams playing in the Elite Eight on Saturday and Sunday have a total of session at 13 years old (one more than the minimum), equaling a record established in 2007. That year, Florida was also a seeded n ° 1 and won the second of the consecutive national championships.

Clayton was the star, but he had the help. Thomas Haugh scored 20 points for Florida and hung 11 rebounds, and Alijah Martin collected 10 points and seven boards. HAGH was appointed to the regional team of all western tournaments.

“Several guys are not sufficiently recognized. Tommy is certainly one of them,” said Clayton. “There is much more in his game, but he sacrifices for the team. He plays his role and does everything we need him. I am grateful for him, and I love him.”

Even after his heroism on Saturday, Clayton was not ready to admit that he is, in fact, comparable to the biggest shooter of all time.

Curry’s curriculum vitae is obviously more extensive than that of Clayton. But something that is not included on the long list of Curry’s achievements is a national championship.

Clayton, at least for the moment, still has a blow.

(Photo by Walter Clayton Jr.: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)