Todd Golden breaks down how Florida completed comeback in national championship game

Todd Golden knew Florida was in a near-impossible hole to climb out of. They did it anyway, came back and beat Houston 65-63 to become national champions Monday night.

Down by 12, it looked like the Cougars were going to cruise to a title, the first in program history. Not so fast my friend! Golden’s crew battled back.

Over the last 20 years, that type of deficit meant the game was over. Not for Florida, which won its third national title in program history and first since 2007.

“Our guys have been really good all year staying the course,” Golden said postgame. “In this tournament, especially after the first round, every team you play is going to be really, really, really good. You have to have the mental toughness to be able to withstand a little adversity.

“We played an incredible UConn team that was used to winning in the second round. Had to get through that one. Obviously Texas Tech, great program. Had to find a way to come back and beat them. Obviously Auburn. The best team in America most of the year in the semifinal.”

So as Golden said, this type of comeback was nothing new for Florida. They’ve had to do it all year and all tournament.

“There’s going to be times of adversity trying to fight back in those games,” Golden said. “Those are all great teams. Obviously Houston is a class act, amazing program, Hall of Fame head coach, super, super tough student-athletes.

“Our guys knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. Didn’t panic when it got tough. As Will talked about, they did a great job of never getting too high, never getting too low. When we went down 12 in the second half, we stayed the course. We didn’t point fingers, didn’t start to try to make hero plays, gambling defensively. We got rewarded because of that toughness that we displayed.”

Of course, a game like this came down to the final play. Florida managed to get a stop on Houston where there were roughly 20 seconds of everyone holding their breath, including Golden.

“Then the last play was just absolutely an amazing play,” Golden said. “Walter recovered, closed out, as he said, flew by his right side to not allow himself to foul. Sharp made a heady — he understood he couldn’t touch the ball or else it would have been a turnover. Then Condo did what he does a lot, which is get physical, dive on the floor, make a winning play, getting on that loose ball.

“I think there was 18 seconds or so on that last possession. We guarded ’em hard. I saw the ball loose. I was just hoping that we beat them to the ball. When Condo got on the floor, I figured it was either going to be a jump ball or we were going to come away with it. Next thing I knew, game was over. Just an incredible moment and something I won’t forget.”