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Alijah Martin appears to headbutt Todd Golden during Florida Sweet 16 berth celebration

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•03/23/25
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© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The No. 1 seed Florida Gators were pushed to the wire on Sunday by the No. 8 seed UConn Huskies, in one of the better games of the first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Walter Clayton, Jr. answered the bell time and time again in the final minutes, delivering several clutch plays for the Gators to lift them to a 77-75 victory. After the game, Florida head coach Todd Golden was fired up and celebrated with his players in the locker room.

The funny part was, Alijah Martin appeared to headbutt Golden in the locker room celebration.

The UConn Huskies outplayed the Gators for much of the contest, but Florida made the critical plays when they absolutely needed them down the stretch. That’s when Walter Clayton, Jr. took the game into his own hands.

The first team All-American played like it on the biggest stage, pouring in 13 of his 23 points in the final eight minutes. Clayton drilled two massive three-pointers down the stretch, allowing Florida to rally to a thrilling 77-75 win. The Huskies pursuit of a third straight national championship has officially ended.

Florida advances to the Sweet 16

Florida (32-4) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and they’ll face either Colorado State or Maryland in the West Region semifinals in San Francisco, California. The Gators certainly made the critical plays down the stretch to win, grabbing two big time offensive rebounds off missed free throws, which produced four second-chance points. UConn was looking to become the first team to three-peat since UCLA had seven straight national championships from 1967-1973.

UConn won the national title last year, joining just Duke (1991-1992) and Florida (2006-2007) as the only schools to win back-to-back national crowns since the UCLA Bruins did it under the great John Wooden. The UConn defense did a tremendous job on the Florida offense for much of the game on Sunday, limiting the Gators to just 35% shooting in the first 30 minutes, allowing them to lead 52-46.

UConn got a special performance from Liam McNeeley, he poured in 22 points, connecting on 6 of his 16 shots from the field. He drained some important free throws late, as well as a three-pointer in the final seconds. Huskies center Samson Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Florida got a dynamic performance from Alijah Martin, who poured in 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists. He and Clayton were joined in double figures by Will Richard, who filled the box score with 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists.