Todd Golden reveals what got Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin going late in national championship game

Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin had two combined points at halftime in the National Championship against Houston. The pair finished the game with 18 total points. After the game, Florida head coach Todd Golden revealed what helped the two stars get hot down the stretch.

“Our team’s resolve, DNA, we don’t have to give those guys confidence. You know what I mean? Walter Clayton, confident. Alijah Martin, confident,” Golden said. “Houston is a great team. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. The message at halftime was we have to take better care of the basketball, but we have to continue to stay aggressive and attack.

“For the first five or six minutes, the first eight minutes of the second half, they still made life really hard on Walter. When he came out, I thought Zel stepped up, gave us great minutes, gave Walter some rest so we could finish. We didn’t have to pump those guys up. Let’s get back to being ourselves and do what we do.

“At this point in the season, they don’t need those words of encouragement. It’s kind of embedded in our DNA. They did what they always do. They stepped up. Alijah hit those big free throws. I thought he guarded really well all night. I thought Walter’s defense in the second half was great. They just found a way to win the ballgame.”

Florida was certainly missing its star duo’s contributions early against Houston. Clayton was unbelievable during the Gators’ March Madness run and was averaging 24.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament leading up to the National Championship.

Martin was Clayton’s reliable sidekick, and had scored double figures in all of Florida’s NCAA Tournament outings before the national title game. In fact, Martin was coming off a 17-point showing in Florida’s Final Four win over Auburn.

With the pair only having a combined two points at the half, the Gators entered the halftime break trailing 31-28. Although neither Clayton or Martin necessarily exploded in the second half to post their typical offensive averages, each of them had pivotal moments in the game’s final minutes.

As Golden mentioned, Alijah Martin sunk two clutch free throws with 46 seconds remaining in the game to give Florida its first lead since the opening moments of the contest. Florida was only able to close the distance thanks to Walter Clayton converting back-to-back and-one buckets earlier in the half.

In the end, Florida’s heroes prevailed when their team needed them the most. Clayton and Martin are each expected to enter the NBA Draft this offseason.