Men’s Basketball Title Game Preview: Keys to the Game, Players to Watch and Predictions

The men’s college basketball season is down to its final game and it should be a fascinating one after the two national semifinals both came down to the final minute thanks to a pair of incredible finishes.

Who will win the national championship this season? Here are a few things to know going into Monday night’s matchup between the Florida Gators and Houston Cougars.

Keys to the Game

Houston Cougars

The Cougars will have to find ways to consistently score at the rim. Florida’s defensive philosophy, especially against teams that rely heavily on post-ups, is to stay home on three-point shooters and dare teams to beat them on the block. That nearly came back to bite Florida against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and seemed to be a problem again early against Auburn, but the Gators defense tightened up when it mattered in both games. The primary post-up option for UH is J’Wan Roberts, who was just 4-of-11 from the field against Duke but scored timely buckets to help the Cougars hang around. If the Gators can limit Houston’s explosive three-point attack, the Cougars will need to piece together enough easy ones at the rim to keep pace.

Florida Gators

Florida’s incredible run to the title game has been largely on the back of guard Walter Clayton Jr. turning in one of the all-time March Madness performances the past few weeks, dropping 30-plus points in back-to-back efforts and helping knock out reigning champion UConn in the second round. Against Houston, the Gators will not only have to make sure the former Iona Gaels transfer keeps his hot streak going, but that the rest of the team can find their level as well. The team’s big men took a while to get into the flow of things against Auburn in the Final Four, and Alex Condon in particular (one point, four rebounds in 23 minutes) was a bit of a non-factor. Given how the Cougars guard every possession like it’s their last, the SEC banner-carriers are going to have to get things going down in the post to space the floor for their guards to get shots off.

“Their defense worries me a lot,” said Florida coach Todd Golden after the Blue Devils hit just one field goal against UH in the final 10 minutes.

Also keep an eye out for which side dictates the tempo of this game. Florida may look to push a bit more than it did against the Tigers on Saturday to get some looks in transition and combat Houston inevitably trying to slow the game down to a snail’s pace.

Players to Watch

Houston guard L.J. Cryer

For as much as Clayton’s unbelievable shotmaking display was talked about Saturday evening, Cryer put up a similarly elite showing to help Houston keep pace. The fifth-year senior has made some absurdly difficult shots off the bounce in this tournament with 19 made threes in five games. The Houston offense isn’t always pretty and relies on shotmaking like what Cryer has done all season. He may not need to match Clayton and the Gators shot-for-shot, but it’s hard to imagine a Houston win without its guards like Cryer hitting some tough ones.

Florida guard Alijah Martin

The Gators guard is the Robin to Clayton Jr.’s Batman this tournament and one of the team’s biggest sparks before his teammate takes over in the final five minutes of games. He had a thunderous dunk that got the Alamodome crowd to its feet on Saturday against Auburn that is a lock to make “One Shining Moment” and is one of the few reliable shotmakers capable of getting to his spot off the dribble. Don’t discount his ability to open things up for the Florida big men either, especially if he has to carry the load if anybody gets into foul trouble.