The No. 1 seeded Florida Gators made a late comeback to avoid an upset Sunday, surviving a close call against the defending champion No. 8 seed Connecticut Huskies with a 77-75 win.
The Gators did not lead for the first 17 minutes and six seconds of the second half, but finished the game on a 19-14 run to escape with the victory.
The hero for Florida down the stretch was senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Clayton hit a 3-pointer to give the Gators their first lead of the second half with 2 minutes and 54 seconds to go, then scored five more points in the last two minutes to ice the game.
The Huskies played inspired defense to nearly pull off the upset, forcing Florida into 12 turnovers. Connecticut’s offense was inconsistent all day, however, connecting on only 37.5% of its 64 field-goal attempts. The Huskies also made only 8 of 29 shots from deep.
The offense was especially problematic late — for a stretch that lasted over five minutes in the second half, Connecticut failed to make a field goal, opening the door for the Gators’ comeback.
