It’s a matchup of the tournament’s best defense against the best clutch player.
SAN ANTONIO — The Houston Cougars held a second-half lead over the Florida Gators in the NCAA men’s basketball national championship game on Monday night in San Antonio.
Houston (35-4) has never won a title. The Gators (35-4) are one win away from their third championship and first since they went back-to-back in 2006-07.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson, 69, would surpass UConn’s Jim Calhoun as the oldest coach to win a men’s basketball Division I national title. He earned his 798th career victory against Duke in the Final Four on Saturday night.
The Cougars, who lead the nation in points and field goal percentage allowed, held the nation’s best player, Cooper Flagg, to 1 for 5 shooting over the final 10 1/2 minutes of their win over the Blue Devils. Flagg’s 3-pointer with 3:02 left in the game was the only basket Houston allowed over that stretch.
Highlights
Joseph Tugler scored the first points of the game, giving Houston a 2-0 lead:
Ja’Vier Francis gave the Cougars another two-point lead about 5 minutes into the game with this monster slam dunk:
Milos Uzan regained the lead for Houston with this nice running floater:
Mylik Wilson capped off a steal with a nice layup to increase Houston’s early lead.
After Florida tied the game at 21, LJ Cryer put the Cougars back on top with his first points of the game.
After a UH block, Houston increased the lead with a nice transition alley-oop:
Cryer pushed Houston’s lead to six with about 1:30 left in the first half:
Cryer scored Houston’s first points of the second half by knocking down a step-back three-pointer:
Another Cryer longball put Houston up double-digits for the first time in the game:
J’Wan Roberts added to the Cougars’ lead with a nice inside move:
After a couple of buckets by Florida, Roberts got the UH lead back up to 10 with this basket:
Florida cut into the Houston lead with an and-1 layup following a block:
Cryer ended an 8-0 Florida run with this three-pointer: