Social media reaction to Walter Clayton's shot-making sending Florida to Final Four

Coming into the 2024-25 college basketball season, the SEC was viewed to be as stacked as possible. That proved to be true, with an NCAA record 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament. But a good case could be made that the hottest team in the group was the Florida Gators, who had won the gauntlet that was the SEC Tournament.

As a result, Florida got a 1 seed in the West Region and became a betting favorite to win the national title. But they’ve faced some resistance, starting with the Round of 32 against the two-time defending champions, UConn. The Gators survived that to get to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.

The Red Raiders through some big punches, making a bunch of three-pointers to go up. They remained ahead of Florida by nine points until around three minutes to go. That’s when Thomas Haugh and Walter Clayton Jr. went unconscious from deep, making several clutch shots to take the lead with just a minute to go.

The Raiders picked the wrong time to go cold from deep, missing their final few long-range shots to complete the collapse, losing 84-79. The frontcourt duo of JT Toppin and Darrion Williams combined for 43 points and 16 rebounds but the starting guards had just 13 points combined among the three of them.

Considering how much they were outplayed in the first 35 minutes, Florida's comeback was incredible. Haugh finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, making up for the rest of the frontcourt struggles. However, the hero for the Gators is Clayton, who finished with 30 points, including 13/14 from the free-throw line, to clinch the first spot in the Final Four.

As expected, social media went off on Clayton’s great shot-making. Now, they wait to see who they’ll play next in the Final Four between Auburn and Michigan State.