The Florida basketball team overcame another second-half deficit on Monday night to win the national championship against Houston. The Cougars were in control for most of the game, but the Gators came back down the stretch and made the winning plays in the final minutes. Florida ended up winning the game 65-63, and head coach Todd Golden is a national champion just three years into his tenure with the Gators.

Florida was down in the second half in their last two March Madness games as well. These Gators know how to find a way to win.

“It was the same story,” Todd Golden said in an interview with Andy Katz after the game. “We knew this was going to be an incredibly difficult game. Houston's a great program, obviously, Hall of Fame head coach, super tough team. And you know, we knew it was going to be a really challenging game. They did a great job on Walt [Walter Clayton Jr.] in the first half, we had some uncharacteristic turnovers. And you know, at halftime, that was the biggest difference. We had nine turnovers. They had two. Other than that. The game was pretty similar, and we just toughened up in the second half, our defense stepped up. I think we had nine stops in a row at one point. We got Walt loose a little bit in transition. He got going, obviously the big three at the under-four. And as always, we found a way to win the game.”

The Houston basketball team is the one that is known for its defense, but it was Florida that won the game with a huge stop in the end.

“Incredibly proud,” Golden said on his team's effort on defense. “You know, we knew that Houston was not gonna make it easy on us, and that's what we needed tonight, to find a way to win. We had to find a way to get some stops and make the game really difficult for them, and we guarded our tail off in the second half. And that last possession, Walt had a great closeout for [Emanuel] Sharp to put the ball on the floor. He realized he couldn't pick it up, and Condo [Alex Condon] dove on the loose ball, and next thing I knew, the horn went off, and then we had won the game.”

Todd Golden is only 39 years old. He has only been the head coach of the Florida basketball team for three seasons. He is already a national champion.

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“Been fortunate to have a great opportunity here at Florida, put ourselves in position to get the job, and fortunate to have an incredible staff,” Golden said. “Man, our staff has been together for three years. We're going to lose some guys here shortly to head jobs, which makes me really proud. And in three short years, we put together an incredible roster, obviously great basketball players, but great kids, great people. Mature, unselfish, resilient and they played with great urgency all year.”

The Florida basketball team is now on top of the college basketball world, and the team will be able to cherish this forever.

“As I just told the guys in the locker room, nobody can ever take this away from us,” Golden concluded. “And it's a memory that we'll have for the rest of our lives.”

Another college basketball season is in the books, and the final weekend of the season did not disappoint. The Gators are the kings of college hoops.