Thriller! Florida completes second half comeback, defeats Texas Tech to advance to Final Four
Florida is Final Four bound.
The top-seeded Gators overcame a 10-point second half deficit to defeat No. 3 Texas Tech 84-79. Florida will advance to its sixth ever Final Four and first since 2014 where it will play the winner of Sunday’s Auburn-Michigan State game.
Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. knocked down the game-tying 3-pointer with just over two minutes to go and hit the go-ahead long ball just a few possessions later to give Florida a one-point lead. Florida finished the final three minutes of the game on a 18-4 run.
Clayton finished with a game-high 30 points while Thomas Haugh finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams led the Red Raiders with 23 points and five rebounds and JT Toppin finished with 20 points and 11 boards. In his final college game, Vallejo native Chance McMillian finished with 14 points.
Texas Tech got off to a slow start in its Sweet 16 game against Arkansas, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.
The Red Raiders scored on three of their first four possessions with all their makes coming on shots from beyond the arc. The Lubbock school took a 24-19 lead nine and half minutes into the first half.
But Florida bounced back to close the half strong. A fastbreak, one-handed slam from Haugh gave Florida a 32-31 lead at the 4:34 mark.
At the end of the first half, Florida led 40-37.
Texas Tech opened the first six minutes of the second half with a 13-5 run, fueled by Toppin and Williamsm, who scored all of the Red Raiders’ points in that stretch.
A fast break, one-handed slam from Florida’s Alijah Martin tied the game at 55, but Texas Tech went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, capped off by an alley-oop slam from Federiko Federiko.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Haugh cut the Texas Tech lead to just three with 2:27 to play. Walter Clayton Jr. then knocked down a stepback long ball from the left wing to tie the game at 75.