Clayton leads Florida to NCAA title game, scoring 34 points in 79-73 victory over SEC rival Auburn.

Set to face Houston in the title game Monday night at the Alamodome, the Gators finally are getting a shot at another national championship after another special performance from their All-America guard.

Clayton scored 34 points with five 3-pointers, giving him the first consecutive 30-point games this deep in the tourney since Larry Bird in 1979 to score at least 30 points in the Elite Eight and national semifinals, and Florida beat Southeastern Conference rival Auburn 79-73 in the Final Four on Saturday night. The Gators are going to the national championship game for the first time since their titles in 2006 and 2007.

No team has against the leading scorer in this NCAA Tournament. He is the first player with 30-point games both the the Elite Eight and semifinals since Bird for Indiana State in 1979, according to ESPN Stats.

The Gators (35-4) got this far only after Clayton rallied them twice in this tournament. He scored 13 of his 23 points in the final eight minutes in a 77-75 win in the second round that ended UConn’s pursuit of a third national title in a row, then had two late 3s last Sunday when they came from nine points down with less than three minutes left to beat Texas Tech.

Clayton had a driving layup with 2:24 left in the national semifinal, on the possession right after Australian big man Alex Condon drew a charge against Johni Broome, the other All-America player in the game — and who was dealing with an injured right elbow.

After a record 14 SEC teams made this NCAA Tournament, seven got to the Sweet 16 before the league made up half the Elite Eight and then this Final Four filled with No. 1 seeds.

Florida will have the chance Monday night to win the SEC’s first title since Kentucky in 2012, the only one since the Gators won in back-to-back seasons. They take an 11-game winning streak into the title championship game against Houston, a 70-67 winner over Duke in the second semifinal.

Martin, who played in the Final Four with FAU two years ago, added 17 points for the Gators. Thomas Haugh had 12.

This is Florida’s fourth appearance in the championship game and first since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 2007. The Gators will meet the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between No. 1 Duke and No. 1 Houston.

The win moves the Gators to 35-5. The 35 victories tie the 2007 team for the second-most in a single season in program history. Florida went a combined 40-29 in coach Todd Golden’s first two seasons after being hired away from San Francisco, where he led the 2022 Dons to an at-large tournament bid.

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