MVG: No surprise here as Walter Clayton Jr continues to carry the Gators past the biggest hurdles and in the darkest of times, leading the Gators to a 79-73 NCAA Tournament Semi-final win over the Auburn Tigers. Clayton Jr scored a career high 34 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists for a Value Score of 110. Tommy Haugh came off the bench to score 12 points with 7 rebounds, 1 assist, a steal and a block for 73 Value Credits. Big man Reuben Chinyelu only scored 5 points but had 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals and no turnovers for 67 Value Credits. More importantly, Reuben's strong physical presence helped wear down Auburn superstar Johni Broome in the second half when the Gators took back control of the game. The Iceman Cometh: Walter Clayton Jr destroyed the disillusioned Auburn Tigers who thought they had tamed the Gators by taking a control of the game with a 46-38 halftime lead. But then the second half happened. The Gators quickly ate up the lead with an early 11-0 run in the second half. While Clayton Jr scored 5 of those points, it was his confidence and "take control" attitude in last minutes of game that guided the Gators to the lead and extend it when others were freezing up and avoided taking contested shot opportunities. 2nd Half Team Victory: The Gators were noticeably more active on defense and turned over the Tigers 12 times, including 7 steals in the second half after only forcing 2 turnovers and zero steals in the first half. The Gator senior guards were very active on defense, including 3 steals by Will Richard, and highlighted by Alijah Martin's explosive steal off an errant pass to Broome and finishing off with one of his two monster jams in the second half. After being dominated in the paint in the first half by Auburn, the Gator big men came alive in the second half challenging every shot in the middle and outrebounding the Tigers by 9 in the second half. Johni Broome scored 12 points in the 1st half and only 3 point in the 2nd half. Ultimately, it was the Gator's depth, especially in the front court, that proved to be biggest difference as the Gators wore down the Tigers for their NCAA tournament semi-final victory. Box Score Value Leaders Clayton Jrc..il110 Haughllllll.......73 Chinyelullllll....67 Click on thumbnail below for all Value Scores. Value Credits* are assigned as follows: +5 credits for each Steal and Assist +4 credits for each Point scored, Rebound and Block .-5 credits for each Turnover .-1.5 credits for each Field Goal Attempt .-0.75 credit for each Free Throw Attempt * Value Credits are based solely on Box Score data and do not reflect total game contributions by players Florida vs Auburn:.l..Full Game Highlights Florida vs Auburn:.ll.NCAA Semi-final Box Score Post Game:........Coach Golden and Team Press Conference The Gators play Houston Cougars for the NCAA Tournament Championship in the San Antonio Alamodome at 8:50PM on CBS.
