No. 1 seeds Florida and Duke clinch first two berths to the men's Final Four
No. 1 Florida made a furious comeback Saturday to clinch the first spot in the Final Four. Later, fellow No. 1 seed Duke cruised to victory to join the Gators.
The No. 1 Florida Gators made a furious comeback Saturday to defeat No. 3 Texas Tech 84-79 and clinch the first spot in the Final Four.
Later in the evening, the Gators were joined by the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils, who cruised to an 85-65 victory over No. 3 Alabama in the finals of the East Region.
Florida and the Red Raiders tipped off the Elite Eight at Chase Center in San Francisco in the finals of the West Region.
The Gators trailed 71-61 with a little over six minutes left in the second half, at one point going nearly four minutes without scoring. But Florida finished the game on a 23-8 run to avoid an upset and book a ticket to San Antonio.
The Gators were led in scoring by senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 30 points in his best performance of the tournament. Clayton was aided greatly by sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, who added 20 points of his own.
Rating: 5