Florida Gators Overcome Deficit to Beat Houston in National Title Game
SAN ANTONIO–The Florida Gator men’s basketball program won their third national championship in school history on Monday night by knocking off Houston 65-63 in San Antonio.
Houston led by as many as 12, but Florida stormed back to take the lead on a pair of free throws from Alijah Martin 64-63. After Houston came up empty on the next possession, Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen converted one of two free throws after being fouled to make it 65-63.
Emanuel Sharp turned it over for Houston on the ensuing possession and time ran out.
Florida outscored Houston in the second half 37-32. They also had 14 assists to Houston’s five. Houston also only shot 35% from the field to Florida’s 40%.
Houston’s LJ Cryer led all scorers with 19 points while Will Richard led Florida in scoring with 18.
This is the first time Florida has won a national championship since they won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. For Houston, they have never won a championship, but have finished as the runner up three times (1983, 1984, and 2025).
Houston’s Head Coach is Kelvin Sampson. He coached at Indiana University from 2006 to 2008.
