Golden's boys fend off Cougars' attack to clinch NCAA title

This was a defensive brawl, and for most of the night, Clayton got the worst of it.

He was 0 for 4 from the field without a point through the first half. Met at the top of the circle, then double-teamed and trapped when necessary, he didn't score until hitting two free throws with 14:57 left.

The player who scored at least 30 points in the last two games, who averaged 24.6 through the first five games of the tournament, who almost single-handedly outscored UConn and Texas Tech down the stretch of March Madness wins, finished with one 3-pointer and, before that, a pair of three-point plays that kept the Gators in striking range.

Then, there was that one defensive stop to put these Gators in the history book, and possibly cement himself as the best basketball player to wear the orange and blue.

"Obviously, it's not a great strategy to fall behind a great team like Houston, but, we made some big-time defensive plays down the stretch to win," Golden said. "We did what we did all year — we stayed the course."

After Alijah Martin made two free throws to put Florida ahead 64-63 — its first lead since 8-6 — the Gators lured Sharp into a triple-team in the corner, where Richard got him to dribble the ball off his leg and out of bounds.

Florida made one free throw on the next possession and that set up the finale. The ball first went to L.J.Cryer, who led the Cougars with 19 points. Blanketed by Richard, he threw to Sharp, who was moving to spot up for a 3 when Clayton ran at him. That left him with no choice but to let the ball go.

Sampson, who designed a defense that held Florida to fewer than 70 points for only the second time this season, looked on in shock.

Instead of the 69-year-old becoming the oldest coach to win the title, the 39-year-old Golden becomes the youngest since North Carolina State's Jim Valvano in 1983 to win it all.

This gut-wrenching loss came two nights after the Cougars fashioned a wild comeback of their own, from 14 down against Duke.

All three Final Four games were decided down the stretch, none by more than six. Any thought that the men's game had been overtaken by the increasingly popular women will probably be put on hold, at least for a year.

Agencies via Xinhua