This Todd Golden second-half adjustment won Florida a national championship

On Saturday Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. became the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to have back-to-back 30+ point performances in the Elite Eight and Final Four. However, on Monday night in the national championship game in San Antonio, Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars bottled the First-Team All-American point guard up, at least for a half. 

Clayton went 0-4 in the first half with zero points and all four of his attempts came from beyond the arc. His first points came from the free throw line with 14:57 left in the second half, yet the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player finished with 11 points and seven assists in Florida’s 65-63 victory. 

Walter Clayton Jr.’s strong second half earns him Final Four Most Outstanding Player

A fundamental philosophy of Sampson’s program is to build an athletic frontcourt with players who are longer than they are tall. With the quick feet and massive wingspans of Joseph Tugler, J’Wan Roberts, and Ja’Vier Francis, Houston was able to play Clayton at the level on ball screens and dribble handoffs, preventing the dynamic guard from getting downhill and forcing him to give up the ball late in the shot clock. Sampson dared Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh to beat him as decision-makers off the short roll and they were unable to do it. 

Then, midway through the second half, the youngest head coach to win a national championship since Jim Valvano in 1983 (also over Houston) made an adjustment that got his superstar going and led his team back from a 12-point deficit. 

Instead of bringing additional defenders to swallow up Clayton outside of the three-point line, Golden spaced the floor more, for his point guard to go one-on-one and score his first field goal at the 7:54 mark, an and-one that evened the score at 48. When Clayton didn’t attack in isolation, he found space with off-ball screens for a crucial three-pointer with 3:14 left. 

Florida didn’t need a 30-point performance from Clayton to beat Houston on Monday night. Will Richard’s first-half shooting and 18-point performance buoyed the Gators for much of the game, and despite his four turnovers, Condon was an impactful finisher at the rim. However, Golden had to find a way to get his biggest shot-maker going to complete the second-half comeback, and by getting Clayton off the ball instead of relying on pick-and-roll actions, he proved himself to be a worthy champion.