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Florida's Todd Golden, Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, Alex Condon & Will Richard at press conference
Apr 8, 2025
#houstoncougars #gocoogs #floridagators #gators
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0:11
put it right here. Put it. Oh, yeah. I
0:14
mean, in the middle.
0:19
We're joined now by the 2025 national
0:21
champions, the Florida Gator with head
0:23
coach Todd Golden, Walter Clayton Jr.,
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Elijah Martin, Alex Condan, and Will
0:28
Richard. Coach, we'll ask you to begin
0:30
with a statement, then we'll take
0:32
questions for the Florida players.
0:33
Coach, it's a a heck of an
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accomplishment. I'm super proud of
0:38
everybody in my program, top to bottom.
0:39
Uh my staff, who's been together for
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three years, has worked incredibly hard
0:44
uh to to help get our players to this
0:46
point, and our players um they've been
0:48
the difference all the way along. um
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been incredibly consistent all year,
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have worked uh with a great work ethic,
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and uh obviously we have an incredibly
0:57
talented group. Um one of the most
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talented groups individually in America,
1:01
but I do think what separates us and
1:03
what has separated us all season long is
1:04
our team talent and the way our guys
1:06
have played together and for each other
1:08
all year. And uh because of that, we uh
1:11
can call each other national champions
1:13
for the rest of our lives.
1:15
And congratulations, coach. We're taking
1:17
questions first though for Walter,
1:18
Elijah, Alex, and Will. If you have a
1:21
question, please raise your hand. Let's
1:22
go up front with Brett. Brett
1:24
Freedellander, Saturday down south. Um
1:26
Will, did
1:28
you feel that you needed to pick the
1:31
team up the way the other guys were
1:32
shooting in the first half? And um and
1:35
Walter, if you could kind of comment on
1:37
on Will's performance uh while you guys
1:39
were having a hard time getting open
1:41
with their defense. Will first then
1:43
Walter. Um, yeah, just trying to make
1:44
plays to help us stay in the game, help
1:46
us give ourselves best chance to win. I
1:47
mean, uh, they were obviously guarding
1:49
Walt and other guys pretty hard, but uh,
1:51
I feel like we did a great job of, uh,
1:52
making simple reads and I mean, Walt had
1:54
seven assists, so even when they were,
1:56
uh, guarding him so hard, I feel like he
1:58
still made plays to help the team win.
1:59
So, uh, just a good job by the team on
2:01
staying aggressive throughout that.
2:02
Walter. Yeah, for sure. Now, uh, Houston
2:05
was guarding us great. You know, u, they
2:07
threw a great defense out there.
2:08
Obviously, everyone knows him for that,
2:09
but man, we got multiple guys on this
2:11
team that can go and um tonight was one
2:13
of those nights who will, man. He done
2:14
showed it multiple times this year. Um
2:16
you know, never know who Knights is
2:17
going to be, man. And uh we showed that
2:19
as a team on the left side up front,
2:22
Edgar from Orlando.
2:24
Yeah, for for just all you guys just um
2:28
what's it say? I've already asked one of
2:29
you maybe on the court, but about you
2:31
guys ability to come back in four games
2:33
out of the six and stay the course as
2:36
Todd likes to say. And uh I mean tonight
2:40
you guys looked in tough shape there for
2:42
a while. We're going to go all the way
2:44
across. Will then Alex, then Elijah,
2:46
then Walter. I feel like it just goes
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back to how connected we are as a team.
2:50
Um, I feel like we all uh we don't have
2:52
any quit and I feel like as long as
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there's time on the clock, we're going
2:54
to give ourselves a good chance to win
2:56
as long as we just stay the course, keep
2:57
uh taking it possession by possession.
2:59
So, I just like our resiliency and uh
3:01
how we fight through reversely
3:02
throughout the game. Alex, yeah, I just
3:05
think uh how great down the stretch and
3:07
you know how how hard we played
3:08
defensively. I think we got nine stops
3:10
uh towards the end of the game. So, uh
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yeah, it was just a team effort uh to
3:15
get this win. It was crazy. Elijah. Um
3:18
it just goes it goes back to what we did
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all season, you know, um every every
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stretch down the moment um that we that
3:26
we've been through um this year. Just
3:28
prepared us for this moment and we
3:30
showed up, man. We never we never
3:31
blinked and um we're national champs.
3:34
I agree what they said. That is a good
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answer, Walter. Let's go on the right
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side with Kevin from Gainesville. Yeah,
3:41
Kevin Brockway, Gainesville, son. Uh
3:43
Walter, uh what did you see on the
3:44
closeout with Sharp at the end, uh you
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know, forcing him to, you know, pick up
3:49
his dribble and uh what does it mean to
3:51
win the national championship on a
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defensive play like that? Yeah. No, for
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sure. I seen a lot going on. Um we coach
3:58
said they was going, we felt like he was
3:59
going to try to get something for either
4:00
Crier or uh or Roberts and uh Sharp kind
4:03
of creeped down to the baseline. I seen
4:05
a back screen, so I'm yelling back
4:06
screen at Do and then Sharp ended up
4:08
slipping it. uh they tried to set like a
4:10
little elevator screen. So just went out
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there, you know, uh we work on it in
4:13
practice. Kind of closing out, jumping
4:14
to the side so you don't foul foul the
4:16
shooter. So he uh kind of pump fake,
4:18
threw the ball down, uh ended up being a
4:19
good play. Dope got on it. Uh we won the
4:21
game, man. And the feeling just surreal.
4:24
It's a crazy feeling, man. I honestly
4:26
can't even explain it, but it felt good
4:27
though.
4:29
Wonder back
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Myron. Uh, Walt, uh, when you go 25
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minutes, I think in three seconds
4:35
without scoring, how did you just stay
4:37
motivated and stay in the game when the
4:38
shots weren't falling? Man, these guys
4:40
around me, man, like I said, our motto,
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we all can go. So, uh, I understand that
4:45
uh, if it ain't my night, somebody going
4:47
to pick me up. And we understand that,
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uh, we all just picking each other up
4:50
throughout the year, man. We've been
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doing that all year. And, uh, tonight
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was nothing different. And I think uh
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the way we won tonight is just uh it's
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just an exclamation mark on the year and
4:58
it's just great to win like that knowing
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the fact that we just um a brotherhood
5:02
together and we just been picking each
5:03
other up all year. One row back. Yeah.
5:07
Uh Walter Barry Bedlin with the
5:09
Associated Press. Um on that final play
5:11
involving Sharp there, what was going
5:13
through your mind when you saw that
5:14
unfolding with him unable to grab the
5:16
ball? Yeah. Uh just go 100%. Honestly,
5:20
my mind was just a little blank. We was
5:22
just trying to get a stop, but uh and we
5:24
ended up getting it, you know, getting a
5:25
win. So happy we got that done.
5:29
We're going to the back left. Lane,
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hey there, Lane Higgins from the Wall
5:35
Street Journal. Um this is for all of
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you guys, but um you know, up until
5:38
probably late in the season, you hadn't
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had that many chances to have these kind
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of big comeback type games where you
5:43
were down and had to really fight back
5:45
in the last few minutes. Um and you
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know, you've had I think four of them in
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the six that you've played in the NCAA
5:50
tournament. So, is there sort of a
5:52
compounding effect of confidence when
5:54
you know you get one of those comebacks
5:55
when you are in the next situation where
5:57
your back's against the wall and you're
5:59
down and you kind of need to step up and
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make some big plays? We're going to
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sweep across again. Will, Alex, Elijah,
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Walter. I mean, for sure. Definitely uh
6:06
pulling out one of those games
6:07
definitely gives you confidence and uh
6:09
knowing that you can win those type of
6:10
games going forward. But I feel like,
6:12
like I said, it's just a testament to
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who we are as a team. I feel like uh
6:15
we're going to fight to the end and uh
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we're going to do whatever it takes to
6:17
give ourselves a good chance to win.
6:19
Alex. Yeah, I just think we have, you
6:21
know, elite confidence in those
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situations. We, uh, we seem to be in
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those tight situations a lot in this
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tournament. So, uh, yeah, I think we got
6:29
together in a huddle at one point when
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we were down and just saying, you know,
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we're good and no one's really stressing
6:33
out too bad. So, uh, yeah, we just have
6:35
a lot of confidence in each other and,
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uh, knowing that our shot was going to
6:38
fall down the stretch. Elijah, I agree
6:41
with they both said.
6:43
I agree with what they said. Also,
6:46
very good answers. Let's go across the
6:48
aisle for the last one for the Florida
6:50
student athletes right there. Trevor
6:53
Denton w 31. Alex, what's going through
6:56
your mind on the last play when you see
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the ball rolling around and when did it
6:59
kind of set in that that was the game
7:01
right there? Yeah, I think it was a a
7:04
great defensive play by Walt. Um I was I
7:06
was questioning whether I should go and
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close out and leave my man, but um yeah,
7:10
he did a good job of just making him,
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you know, it was going to be a travel if
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he picked it up. for just diving on it
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and uh hearing the buzzer go was it was
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a crazy feeling and uh didn't feel real
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for sure. We want to congratulate and
7:21
thank Will, Alex, Elijah, and Walter,
7:24
the national champions, will return to
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the locker room right now, which is open
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until 11:50 local time.
7:37
First question for Coach Golden, USA
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Today, left side of the room. Austin in
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USA Today. Coach, um I think you're the
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only national champion in the last 20
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years to come back from a 9-point or
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more deficit in each of the elite eight,
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the final four, the national
7:52
championship. How do you how did you
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watch your team navigate those moments,
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whether it was in huddles, whether it
7:57
was little moments, picking each other
7:59
up, you know, kind of just pulling
8:01
through each of those sort of, if you
8:03
want to call them comebacks, each of
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those sort of stressful sort of
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stretches. you our guys have been really
8:08
good all year uh staying the course and
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you know in this tournament
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uh especially after the first round
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every team you play is going to be
8:17
really really really good and uh you
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have to have the mental toughness to be
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able to withstand a little adversity uh
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we played an incredible Yukon team that
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was used to winning in the second round
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had to get through that one and uh
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obviously Texas Tech great program uh
8:30
had to find a way to to come back and
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beat them and um obviously Auburn you
8:35
know the best team in America most of
8:36
the year in the semi-finals. So, you
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know, um there's going to be times of
8:41
adversity trying to fight back in those
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games. You know, th those are all great
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teams. Obviously, Houston, um just a a
8:47
class act, amazing program, Hall of Fame
8:49
head coach, uh super super tough student
8:52
athletes and uh our our guys knew that
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it wasn't going to be easy and uh didn't
8:56
panic when it got tough. And uh as Will
8:58
talked about, you know, they they did a
8:59
great job of never getting too high,
9:01
never getting too low. uh you know when
9:03
we went down 12 in the second half uh we
9:05
we stayed the course. We didn't point
9:07
fingers. We didn't try to start making
9:08
hero plays. We didn't start gambling
9:11
defensively and uh we got rewarded
9:13
because of that toughness that we
9:14
displayed
9:16
on the right side. Kevin. Yeah. Kevin
9:18
Brockway Angelson. Yeah. Just talk a
9:20
little bit about that as well. The
9:21
toughness that you guys showed
9:22
throughout the game and and being
9:24
physical with a a physical Houston team
9:26
and the ability to get those stops down
9:28
the stretch. I believe you held them
9:29
scoreless in the final 229. what went
9:32
into that in terms of of your guys
9:34
resolve defensively? You know, we've uh
9:37
we've gotten a lot of credit for our
9:38
offense because we've been so explosive
9:40
all year uh and been one of, if not the
9:43
top two offenses in America all year,
9:44
but we've been a top 10 defense all year
9:46
also. And uh we've been able to stand up
9:49
against really good offensive teams and
9:51
find a way to get stops. I thought
9:52
Houston got the better of us in the
9:54
first half, but um it it was really just
9:56
a disparity in the turnover count. You
9:58
know, we had nine. I think they had two
9:59
in the first half. And as I look here,
10:01
we had four in the second and they had
10:02
seven. And uh our defense won us the
10:05
game tonight. We got nine straight stops
10:06
at one point in the middle of the second
10:07
half. Uh to your point, we held them
10:10
scoreless the last 220. And Walter,
10:12
great close out and Condo, great hustle
10:14
play to win the game. And uh that that's
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what made this team special all year is
10:18
that we could win different ways and we
10:19
showed that again tonight. On the left
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side up front, Edgar.
10:24
Yeah, Todd, young youngest coach in the
10:27
since this uh went to 64 teams to ever
10:30
win a national title. I mean, what
10:32
what's that mean to you to do that? And
10:35
Billy Donovan was the youngest before
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you. Uh I mean, I'm super proud
10:40
obviously.
10:41
Um but I'm just a piece of this puzzle,
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you know. Uh I've been able to put
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together an incredible staff and and
10:48
recruit great student athletes over
10:49
these last three years. And uh um you
10:52
know, we we've stayed the course all
10:53
year and and worked really hard. And um
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you know, uh my best answer is I'm just
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really proud, you know, proud to be the
10:59
head coach of Florida. I'm proud of the
11:00
way our our players performed and uh I'm
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proud of the way our staff prepared our
11:04
guys to to become national champions.
11:06
Second row center. as you're uh Audi
11:10
Joseph CBS as you're thinking in your
11:13
head toward the end of the game how the
11:15
end of this game is going to look.
11:17
There's no way you could have imagined
11:18
four Houston turnovers in a minute and
11:20
20 seconds.
11:22
Is that something that you were trying
11:24
to scheme up? Is that something that
11:25
surprised you in in their
11:27
execution? And and I guess like what did
11:31
also a followup of a question that was
11:33
asked of a couple people. What did you
11:35
think when that ball was just loose?
11:38
Well, down the stretch we we just made
11:40
some big time winning plays defensively.
11:42
Uh you know, the it's it's all kind of
11:44
cloudy and a blur, but the one that
11:45
sticks out is when uh I believe it was
11:47
Sharp drove right off the off the right
11:50
lane line and Will was guarding somebody
11:52
in the corner. He stripped and ripped
11:53
right off his leg um with about a minute
11:55
10 or a minute to go. Uh that was a huge
11:57
play for us. Um and then and then the
12:00
last play was just absolutely an amazing
12:02
play. You know, Walt recovered, closed
12:03
out, as he said, flew by his right side
12:06
to to not allow himself to foul. Sharp
12:09
made a heady, you know, he understood he
12:11
couldn't touch the ball or else it would
12:12
have been a turnover. And then Condo,
12:14
uh, you know, did what he does a lot,
12:17
which is get, you know, get physical,
12:19
dive on the floor, make a winning play,
12:21
getting on that loose ball. And, uh, I
12:24
think there was 18 seconds or so on that
12:26
last possession. and we guarded him hard
12:27
and I saw the ball loose and um you know
12:30
my I was just hoping that that we beat
12:32
him to the ball and when Condo got on
12:33
the floor I I figured it was either
12:34
going to be a jump ball or we were going
12:36
to come away with it and then next thing
12:37
I knew the game was over. So uh just
12:40
just an incredible moment and um you
12:42
know something I won't forget. On the
12:44
right side, hey coach Joel Morris, Alamo
12:47
City Hoops. Um obviously tough start for
12:50
Elijah and and Walter in the beginning
12:52
of the game but uh down the stretch they
12:54
came up big. uh Elijah with free throws,
12:56
Walter and big threes to tie it. Uh what
12:58
was some of the messages and just kind
13:00
of like the teammates and the coaching
13:01
staff giving those guys uh so they can
13:04
stay confident? Uh maybe even the locker
13:05
room as well. Was just some of the
13:07
messages. Yeah, our team's uh resolve
13:10
and DNA like we don't we don't have to
13:13
give those guys confidence. You know
13:14
what I mean? Like Walter Clayton, he's
13:16
confident. Elijah Martin confident. You
13:18
know, they Houston's a great team. U you
13:20
know, so we knew it wasn't going to be
13:21
easy. And uh you know the message at
13:23
halftime was we have to take better care
13:26
of the basketball but we got to you know
13:27
continue to stay aggressive and attack
13:28
and uh you know for the first five or
13:30
six minutes of the I think actually the
13:32
first eight minutes of the second half
13:33
they still made life really hard on Walt
13:35
you know and when he came out uh you
13:37
know I thought Zel stepped up gave us
13:38
great minutes. We were able to come back
13:40
a little bit in that time get Walt some
13:42
rest so we could finish. Um but uh you
13:45
know it wasn't we we didn't have to pump
13:46
those guys up you know it was more just
13:48
like hey let's just get back to being
13:50
ourselves and do what we do. um you know
13:51
at this point in the season uh you know
13:53
that they don't they don't need that
13:55
those words of encouragement like it's
13:57
kind of uh embedded in our DNA and and
13:59
they did they did what they always do
14:01
you know they stepped up Elijah hit
14:03
those big free throws I thought he
14:04
guarded really well all night uh I
14:06
thought Walter's defense in the second
14:08
half was great and uh you know they just
14:10
they just found a way to win the ball
14:11
game up front on the right Brett Todd
14:15
yesterday we talked about how this game
14:17
was going to be a clash of styles and
14:20
this game was pretty much played at
14:22
Houston style and their pace. How
14:24
concerned were you as this was going on
14:26
about that and what did you do to
14:28
overcome it? I I was definitely
14:30
concerned. They were dictating the tempo
14:32
and we wanted to get out in transition
14:33
and we were not able to especially in
14:35
the first half. I don't think we have
14:36
any any fast break points and uh you
14:39
know when we're at our best we're
14:40
getting stops, clean rebounds and we're
14:41
getting out and run in transition and
14:43
finding baskets. So, uh, you know, that
14:45
was that was concerning. Um, you know,
14:48
but in the first at at halftime, just
14:50
looking at the numbers, uh, the only
14:52
thing that really stood out that was a
14:53
big issue was our turnovers. And I
14:54
thought we had some uncharacteristic
14:56
turnovers. I thought some of those, uh,
14:58
a majority of those nine turnovers were
15:00
were not forced. You know, they were
15:01
just, you know, either poor decisions or
15:03
being sped up offensively. And, uh, you
15:06
know, we we just needed to kind of calm
15:07
down. Obviously, Houston is the best
15:08
defensive team in America by the
15:10
numbers, and we knew it wasn't going to
15:11
be easy to score on them. We still
15:12
weren't able to get up and down too much
15:14
in the second half, but we scored 37. Uh
15:16
we we we were able to knock down our
15:18
free throws and we just took much better
15:19
care of the basketball.
15:22
On the left side, Chris, uh Chris Hary,
15:24
Florida Gator.com. Congratulations,
15:26
Todd. Thank you,
15:29
Chris. The
15:31
uh being down to Houston 12 is would
15:35
some might say would be like being down
15:37
15 or 16 to other teams. Are you at some
15:39
point just saying something good has to
15:41
happen? Walter Clayton's not not
15:42
scoring. Are you just saying we need to
15:44
string stops together? I mean, what is
15:45
the mentality as as the as the players
15:48
are talking to each other during these
15:50
timeouts at that time? Yeah, I mean, the
15:51
the biggest thing from my perspective
15:53
was I I just didn't feel like we had
15:55
much control of the game. You know, I
15:56
thought Houston was controlling tempo. I
15:58
thought they were controlling with their
15:59
physicality. Um, you know, there there
16:02
was an interesting technical call on our
16:04
bench that I thought, you know, was was
16:05
an issue we had to battle through. Um,
16:08
you know, and and it was our defense.
16:10
you know, we we it was stops, you know,
16:11
it was finding a way to to be able to
16:13
get some runouts and and as we talked
16:15
about, we didn't get a lot of
16:16
transition, but we did we were able to
16:17
break and get a couple and uh you know,
16:19
Walt saw the ball go through the net
16:21
with some free throws and that and one
16:22
layup and I thought that loosened him up
16:23
a little bit. Uh, and after that we were
16:25
starting to get some good stuff and we
16:27
were starting to hit some shots and um,
16:29
you know, get downhill and get to the
16:30
foul line and uh, we were able to flip
16:32
the game and the momentum a little bit
16:34
and uh, obviously incredibly challenging
16:36
to do to do against an opponent like
16:38
Houston, but you know, we're pretty dang
16:40
good also and we found a way to do it.
16:42
We want to thank Coach Golden, head
16:44
coach, the 2025 national champion
16:46
Florida Gator. Sounds pretty good. Thank
16:48
you'all.
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