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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Michael Kadlick

Walter Clayton Jr. Helps Florida Mount Last-Minute Comeback, Sends Gators to Final Four

Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates defeating Texas Tech. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Florida Gators are headed back to the Final Four for the first time since 2014, and they're doing so on the back of Walter Clayton Jr.

With his team trailing by nine with just over three minutes to go—and again by two with 0:59 on the clock—the senior guard scored 10 points down the stretch to help the Gators take down the Texas Tech Red Raiders 84-79. He finished the Elite Eight contest in San Francisco with 30 points on 7-14 shooting (3-8 from behind the three-point arc) while also hitting 13 of his 14 free throw attempts.

"I don't know man, I've just got all these guys around me," Clayton Jr. said when asked how he performs his best when the game gets tight. "We don't spread apart during adversity, we come together. So shout out to the whole team. We all did it together."

His teammates, meanwhile, described him as cold-blooded. With his output on Saturday, Clayton Jr. now holds the University of Florida record for most career 30-point games in the NCAA tournament.

The Gators, now 34-4 on the season, are headed to the Final Four and will take on the winner of Sunday afternoon's contest in Atlanta between the Auburn Tigers and the Michigan State Spartans.


More March Madness on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Walter Clayton Jr. Helps Florida Mount Last-Minute Comeback, Sends Gators to Final Four.

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