Walter Clayton breaks down mindset during clutch moments
Two shots on Saturday solidified Walter Clayton Jr.’s status as a Florida legend. With two minutes left in Florida’s Elite Eight showdown against Texas Tech, the Gators trailed 75-72. Then, with 1:47 remaining on the game clock, Clayton’s clutch gene kicked.
Clayton came off a screen with two defenders trailing him and after reaching the left wing, hit a nasty stepback to his right and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game. Clayton didn’t stop there. Just 48 seconds later, Clayton nailed an even more ridiculous stepback to give Florida its first lead since the 13:26 mark of the second half.
The Gators didn’t allow Clayton’s clutch performance to go to waste. After sinking a few late-game free throws, Florida walked away with an 84-79 triumph to appear in its first Final Four since 2014. After the game, Clayton reflected on his back-to-back clutch triples.
“I definitely seen them, a couple shots went in, they kind of turned around looked at their bench, like, how,” Clayton said. “Nothing was going through my mind. My mind was blank. Thankful that the shots went in. But we were locked in until the final buzzer sounded. My mind was blank, honestly.”
Those shots were far from Clayton’s only contributions to the Gators’ winning efforts. Clayton led all scorers with 30 points while shooting 7-14 from the field, 3-8 from beyond the arc and 13-14 from the charity stripe.
With the performance, Clayton became the first player in program history to have multiple 30-point games in the NCAA Tournament. After the victory, Gators head coach Todd Golden raved about his star point guard.
“There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment,” Golden said. “He said he blacked out or whatever. He doesn’t get too high or too low. He does a great job controlling his emotions.
“Most players, in that moment, their heart rate would get up. He has that special talent and ability to stay even-keeled. The biggest thing in those moments is you need to have somebody that wants to take those shots. They’re obviously difficult plays, but someone that has the confidence to step up and make incredible individual plays. And Walter did that for us tonight.”
In the Final Four, Florida will face off against the winner between 1-seed Auburn and 2-seed Michigan State. Florida met Auburn earlier this season on Feb. 8 and defeated the Tigers 90-81.
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