NCAA Men’s Championship 2025: Florida Gators Beat Houston Cougars 65-63 to Win National Title

Monday was the last possession of an NCAA Men’s Championship 2025 that was known for its lack of suspense.

With one last defensive stand, Florida overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half to win its third national championship 65-63.

Houston was unable to make a last-second shot despite having the ball back with 19 seconds remaining. With five seconds remaining, Cougars player Emanuel Sharp saw Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr.’s coverage and jumped for a game-winning attempt after catching a pass well beyond the 3-point line. However, he pump-failed.

By bouncing the ball while in the air, Sharp was able to avoid traveling, but a teammate was unable to quickly reach him in time to catch it and attempt to throw up before the clock ran out.

What would have been Houston’s first national championship was denied. The 69-year-old coach of the Cougars, Kelvin Sampson, was attempting to win his 800th game in his career and become the oldest coach in history to win a NCAA Men’s Championship 2025. Instead, he was frozen as the last possession went wrong, and after the final bell, Todd Golden, the 39-year-old coach of the Gators, ran onto the floor amid a shower of confetti.

All four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four for the first time since 2008 and only the second time since the tournament’s expansion in 1985, capping a tournament that had yielded few surprises in its opening two weeks. The favorites might have won, but not always in an easy way, as Florida and Houston needed incredible upsets against Duke and Auburn in the semifinals to advance to the championship game on Monday night.

Clayton, a guard for the clutch Gators, scored all 11 of his points in the second half and finished with five rebounds, seven assists, and the game-winning defensive closeout in the closing seconds. Despite Florida’s early problems, teammate Will Richard kept the team in the game with 14 points, which was half of the Gators’ halftime total.

Houston’s 18-game winning streak came to an end as L.J. Cryer scored 19 points to lead the team.

Florida had the more potent offense, according to the clubs’ season averages and tournament results, but Houston jumped out to a 29–21 lead in just 15 minutes as the Gators missed numerous scoring opportunities due to errors. However, Florida trailed at 31-28 at halftime in the lowest-scoring first half of a championship game since 2011, despite nine mistakes and Clayton’s lone scoreless first half of the season.

Florida, which had already won the championship despite falling behind by six in the round of 32, by ten in the Elite Eight, and by nine in Saturday’s semifinal, was accustomed to the position.

That resiliency was rapidly put to the test once more. Florida went over three minutes without scoring, but Houston had its biggest benefits, 42-30, with 16 minutes remaining in the second half. However, with 12:06 remaining, Florida cut into the lead, 45-42, with eight consecutive points.

Clayton made his first field goal with a left-handed layup four minutes later, and after being fouled, he added a free throw to force a tie.

With less than three minutes remaining, Clayton scored his first 3-pointer of the evening on his sixth try, tying the score at 60 for the eleventh time.

With 46 seconds remaining, Florida finally took the lead via to Alijah Martin’s free throws, which put them ahead 64-63. With 26 seconds remaining, it received an important break when Sharp, the guard who helped Houston pull off a comeback victory over Duke on Saturday, dribbled through traffic and had the ball poked away, rolling out of bounds and allowing Florida an opportunity to increase its lead.

Florida advanced the ball despite Houston’s full-court press, but missed one of its next two free throws, giving Houston the ball back with 19 seconds remaining and a chance to win its first national title, unlike Duke in the national semifinal on Saturday.

Florida won the game because Houston was unable to get a shot off the possession.