Walter Clayton Jr.'s defensive stop gives Florida its 3rd national title with 65-63 win over Houston

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. came up with the perfect going-away present for that spirit-crushing Houston defense that bullied, battered and bedeviled him all night.

It was a defensive gem of his own. Right before the buzzer. For the win and the national title.

The Gators and Clayton somehow overcame Houston’s lockdown intensity, along with a 12-point deficit Monday night to will out a 65-63 victory in an NCAA title-game thriller decided when the Florida senior's own D stopped the Cougars from even taking a game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Clayton finished with 11 points, all in the second half. What he’ll be remembered for most was getting Houston’s Emanuel Sharp to stop in the middle of his motion as he tried to go up for the game-winning 3 in the final seconds.

“Just go 100 percent,” Clayton said when asked what he was trying to do at the finish. “We were just trying to get a stop, and we happened to get it. I’m happy we got it done.”

With Sharp looking for room, Clayton ran at him. The Houston guard dropped the ball and, unable to pick it up lest he get called for traveling, watched it bounce.

Alex Condon dived on the ball, then flipped it to Clayton, who ran to the opposite free-throw line with the buzzer sounding and tugged his jersey out of his shorts. Next, the court was awash in Gator chomps and orange and blue confetti.

“We guarded them hard and then I saw the ball loose and I just hoped we beat them to the ball,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.

This marked the fourth comeback in six March Madness wins for the Gators (36-4). They led this game for a total of 64 seconds, including the last 46 ticks of a contest that was in limbo until the final shot that never came.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called it “incomprehensible” that the Cougars couldn't get a shot off on either of their last two possessions.

About the last one, Sampson said: “Clayton made a great play. But that’s why you’ve got to shot fake and get into the paint. Two’s fine.”

Will Richard had 18 points to keep the Gators in it, and they won their third overall title and first since Billy Donovan went back-to-back in 2006-07.

This time, it's Golden, in his third year, bringing the title back to Gainesville, where the Gator faithful can celebrate a win on one of college sports' grandest stages for the first time since Tim Tebow was playing quarterback for the football team in 2008.

This was the first hoops title for the Southeastern Conference since Kentucky in 2012, and the outcome the power conference was hoping for (expecting?) after placing a record 14 teams in the tournament.

The Cougars (35-5) and Sampson were denied their first championship, and ended up in the same spot as the colorful Phi Slama Jama teams from the 1980s — oh-so-close in second place.

This was a defensive brawl — the Gators failed to crack 70 for only the second time all season — 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 singlehandedly outscored UConn and Texas Tech down the stretch of those March Madness comebacks, finished with one 3-pointer. Before that, he had a pair of three-point plays off drives to the hoop that kept the Gators in striking range. He finished 3 for 10.

He also became part of not one, but two stops that put these Gators in the history book, and possibly cemented himself as the best basketball player to wear the orange and blue.

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 Clayton pressured him, and then 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.

“It was a great defensive play by Walter," Condon said. “I just dived on it, and hearing the buzzer go was a crazy feeling.”

Instead of the 69-year-old Sampson becoming the oldest coach to win the title, the 39-year-old Golden becomes the youngest since N.C. 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 Florida's six-point win over Auburn on Saturday. Any thought that the men’s game had been overtaken by the increasingly popular women will probably go on hold at least for a year.

The three women's Final Four games, capped by UConn's blowout of South Carolina on Sunday, were decided by an average of 24.7 points.

“When it gets down to the two best teams left,” Sampson said of the thriller he barely lost, “it’s not going to be easy for either team.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Houston's Kordelius Jefferson sits in the locker room after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Florida celebrates with the trophy after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida head coach Todd Golden celebrates after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. and center Micah Handlogten celebrates after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida celebrates with the trophy after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida forward Alex Condon celebrates after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Houston's Milos Uzan (7) leaves the court after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida celebrates after beating Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Houston forward Ja'Vier Francis reacts after their loss against Florida during the second half in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida celebrates after beating Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. and center Micah Handlogten celebrates after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida forward Alex Condon celebrates after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Houston's Mylik Wilson (8) leaves the court after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida's Micah Handlogten (3) and Walter Clayton Jr. celebrate after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Houston's J'Wan Roberts (13) shoots as Florida's Alex Condon (21) defends during the second half in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida's Alex Condon dunks the ball against Houston during the second half in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Houston forward Joseph Tugler reacts as Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen celebrates after scoring during the second half in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. celebrates after scoring during the second half against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida's Rueben Chinyelu (9) reacts after being called for a foul against Houston during the second half in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Florida's Alex Condon (21) reacts after Florida beat Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida guard Alijah Martin celebrates after their win against the Houston in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 7, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida guard Will Richard celebrates after their win against Auburn during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Houston's J'Wan Roberts (13) goes up to block a shot by Duke's Sion James during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. (1) goes up for a shot as Auburn's Johni Broome defends during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Houston forward Joseph Tugler celebrates after scoring against the Duke during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. drives around Auburn guard Miles Kelly during the second half in the national semifinals at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials say President Donald Trump's administration appears to be wielding its “political power” to give unprecedented help to a former county election clerk convicted of letting Trump supporters access election equipment after his 2020 defeat.

The U.S. Justice Department is trying to intervene in the case of Tina Peters, who wants to be released from prison while she appeals her conviction. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Denver.

There have been “reasonable concerns” raised about Peters’ prosecution, wrote acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General Yaakov M. Roth in a court filing last month. Peters’ case is among those the government has said it is reviewing for “abuses of the criminal justice process.”

But Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wants Magistrate Judge Scott T. Varholak to block the Justice Department's involvement. Lawyers from Weiser's office said the Justice Department has not given any good reason why it should intervene and has just repeated Peters' arguments.

“Tina Peters was not prosecuted because of any political pressure; she was prosecuted because she broke the law. And just as they did not prosecute her for political reasons, her prosecutors will not accede to any political pressure to give her preferred treatment in sentencing or terms of confinement,” lawyers from Weiser's office said in a filing.

Varholak denied a request to allow Peters, now in a state prison in Pueblo after serving a jail sentence, to attend Tuesday’s hearing, saying its only purpose was to hear arguments from lawyers.

The lawyers who originally submitted the Justice Department’s statement, including Colorado’s acting U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell, have since stepped down from the case because their office helped the state investigate Peters. They said that while they wanted to avoid a conflict of interest, they stood by the Justice Department’s statement.

Abigail Stout, a Justice Department lawyer in Washington, is now representing the federal government instead.

A state judge sentenced Peters in October to nine years behind bars after rebuking her for being defiant and continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines. Peters is now trying to get a federal judge to release her while she appeals her conviction.

Peters says Judge Matthew Barrett violated her right to free speech by denying her bond while she appeals because of her outspoken questioning of the voting system. She also argued she should be released from prison while she appeals because she is protected from being punished for trying to preserve election records, which she says is a federal duty.

Jurors found Peters guilty in August for using someone else’s security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person’s identity. Lindell is a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Trump.

Barrett previously found Peters in contempt of court after District Attorney Dan Rubenstein accused her of recording a court hearing for a person accused of being a coconspirator, which she denied.

That conviction was overturned for lack of evidence by the state appeals court in January.

Peters says Rubenstein, a Republican, later admitted that he didn’t know if Peters was recording the hearing but still used it as a reason to encourage Barrett to sentence her to prison for the voting system breach. Her lawyers say a review found no evidence of a recording.

Trump has previously been at odds with officials in Democratic-led Colorado over issues including immigration. In March, he demanded the removal of a portrait of himself from the state Capitol because he thought it was unflattering.

His administration's attempt to involve itself in Peters' case is its latest move to reward allies who violated the law on Trump's behalf.

Previously, Trump pardoned more than a thousand people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He nominated an attorney for some of those defendants, Ed Martin, to be acting U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia.

The Department of Justice also moved to drop corruption charges against New York’s Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, saying that they were tainted by “weaponization” and that the administration needed Adams’ cooperation in its immigration enforcement efforts.

FILE - Candidate for the Colorado Republican Party chair position Tina Peters concludes her speech during a debate sponsored by the Republican Women of Weld, Feb. 25, 2023, in Hudson, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)