It’s a good thing that there’s a day off between the Final Four and the national championship game because the entire college basketball world needs to catch its collective breath.
Houston and Florida are set to play for the national title, tipping off at 8:50 p.m. ET. Both teams needed big comebacks to power into the final game, with Houston pulling off one of the most unlikely come-from-behind wins in Final Four history.
Here’s all you need to know from Saturday’s absolutely scintillating Final Four:
Houston 70, Duke 67
The Houston Cougars are back in the national championship game for the first time since 1984, following a stunning 70-67 come-from-behind victory over Duke.
The Cougars, who are in the title game for the third time, are looking to win their first national championship in program history.
Big 12 All-First Team selection LJ Cryer put the team on his back in the contest, scoring 26 points with five rebounds, while Emanuel Sharp added 16 points.
Duke led by 14 points with over 8:17 minutes left to play, held a six-point lead with 1:14 to play, and trailed as the clock hit zero. Houston’s suffocating defense showed up when the team needed it most, forcing Duke into a nearly eight-minute stretch without a field goal.
“It’s hard to process still. I thought our guys did an incredible job the whole game and I thought we had some good looks. Didn’t finish,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer told the CBS broadcast after the game.
“You got to give Houston a ton credit. And still even with that, we have the lead with under a minute to go and - I couldn’t be more proud - I’m not about to hang our head. I mean this part of it. You got to handle the wins, and you got to handle the losses too. In a moment like this, we we’re this close. We felt like we were the best team, tonight was Houston. And hats off to them.”
Scheyer continued: “I feel for them because they’re competitive and they’re going to think about plays. I didn’t help them enough and that’s where my mind goes. I couldn’t be more proud of them. This is part of it. This is part of it unfortunately. … They played their hearts out. Just really feel for our guys.”
Duke’s freshman duo of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel played valiantly all game, combining to score 43 of the Blue Devils’ 67 points.
For the Cougars, they advance to the national championship game, where they’ll square off against Florida on Monday night in San Antonio.
Florida 79, Auburn 73
Florida outlasted Auburn in a heavyweight bout between the two best teams in the SEC on Saturday, using a second-half charge to take home a 79-73 victory.
Led by Walter Clayton Jr.’s heroics – the star guard scored 34 points – the Gators came out on fire after the halftime break and overpowered a tough Tigers team.
“He’s incredible. On and off the court he’s a great dude. We trust him in those situations. He knocks down big shots day after day,” said Thomas Haugh, Clayton’s teammate.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said before the game that if the Gators could be more physical than Auburn, and if Clayton was the best guard on the floor, then Florida would beat his Tigers for the second time this year.
That’s exactly what happened in the second half.
Tough interior defense from Florida held Johni Broome, the SEC player of the year, to three points on 1-4 shooting in the second half. Auburn shot over 50% in the first half and just 33% in the second. After having a huge advantage on points in the paint in the first half, the Tigers only had eight points down low in the second.
Florida head coach Todd Golden used to be one of Pearl’s assistants at Auburn and has a long history with the venerable head coach of the Tigers. It’s safe to say that on this night, the student outfoxed the teacher with his halftime adjustments.
“The way our game plan, we weren’t executing it very well and it wasn’t working very well. … The main message at halftime was we have to get back to doing what we do and executing in a positive way,” Golden said after the game.
“We did a great job of guarding Johni one-on-one in the second half. I think he was 1-4 from the field. We started getting out in transition a little bit, saw the ball go through the basket, started gaining some confidence. We obviously played a really, really good second half.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow for Pearl and the Auburn Tigers, who were the top overall seed in this year’s tournament and were looking to win the school’s first-ever basketball national title.
“I’m really proud of my team, how these guys made history, the best basketball team in the history of Auburn basketball. They gave us a ride that won’t ever be forgotten. They did so many great things both on and off the court that I’m extremely proud of,” Pearl said after the game.
“Played beautiful basketball in the first half. We were prepared. We had a great game plan. They executed it really well. We only turned the ball over twice. Second half, Florida’s effort and energy, the fact that we’re not as deep as what we normally are, was a factor. I thought fatigue was a factor. As a result, we weren’t able to maintain control of the game, which I think if we had taken care of the basketball a little bit, not turned it over, not given them easy ones, we could have been in position to win the basketball game.”
