Chomp-ionship comeback

Good morning! Was it the best Final Four ever?

Let's dive into Monday’s title game and the rest of the news.

1. Florida ‘never blinked’ in remarkable comeback vs. Houston

Florida had been in this position before.

OK, not this exact thing — down 12 points in the second half of the National Championship game — but it had seen this before during the NCAA Tournament.

It trailed Texas Tech by 10 points with 5:32 remaining in the Elite Eight. It trailed Auburn by 9 points early in the second half on Saturday. And with 16:24 remaining on Monday night, it trailed Houston — the nation’s best defense — by 12 points.

Yet the Gators used their defense (!) to claw back. With seven minutes left, it had tied the game. It took its first lead a few minutes later and kept up the defensive pressure. Houston turned the ball over five times in the final 3:24, and three times in the final minute.

And that last turnover is was did it.

“Our guys knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “When we went down 12 in the second half, we stayed the course.”

Houston was trying to run a staggered set to free up Emanuel Sharp at the top of the key, and would ideally get to the rim. Coach Kelvin Sampson said a 3-pointer wasn’t necessary, but that’s what emerged as a possibility.

“I’m just going through those last two possessions more than anything else. It’s incomprehensible in that situation that we couldn’t get a shot. Any shot,” Sampson said.

Instead, the Cougars (35-5) who never trailed by more than two points, and led for most of the game, came up short for its first national title. It’s 0-7 in Final Fours, and was on the other end of one of the biggest title game comebacks.

Florida (36-4) won its first title since 2007, and third overall, tying Villanova for 8th most. Golden, 39, became the first 30-something coach to win a title since Jim Valvano did in 1983 (against Houston).

It’s a perfect close to his third season at Florida, where he and his staff scouted under-the-radar prospects and transfers, developed them and turned them into one of the sport’s elite units this season. Its +36.46 adjusted efficiency margin ranks 7th all time on KenPom, a testament to its explosive offense and deep defense. It won nine of its final 12 games against top 25 opponents.

“It goes back to what we did all season,” senior Alijah Martin said. “Every moment down the stretch that we’ve been through this year just prepared us for this moment. We showed up, man.

“We never blinked. We’re national champs.”

2. No offensive explosion? No problem for Walter Clayton

Florida’s defense keyed the comeback because the Gators never quite got their offense rolling. That’s a credit to Houston’s defense, especially the job it did denying Walter Clayton Jr. any open looks.

So Clayton merely stayed patient and played facilitator instead.

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