Manchester United's post-season tour of Asia is needed to "drive revenue," according to chief executive Omar Berrada, after the club announced two extra fixtures at the end of the 2024-25 season.

United will play matches in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong in May.

The first game against ASEAN All Stars in Kuala Lumpur is scheduled for May 28 -- just three days after United's final Premier League game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on May 25.

The tour is set to earn around 10 million ($12.7m). United have recorded losses of more than 300m over the last three years and in March co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said the club would have run out of cash by Christmas without his injection of capital.

"Tour fixtures drive significant additional revenue which help make the club stronger, allowing us to keep investing in success on the pitch," Berrada said.

"They also create unique opportunities for us to collaborate with our valued commercial partners, and to deepen relationships with our fans in regions such as Asia and the U.S."

United are set to travel to Asia immediately after the conclusion of the Premier League season.

The decision to play two additional fixtures will raise questions about player burn-out after a campaign which will include a minimum of 57 matches. The figure could rise to 60 if United reach the Europa League in Bilbao on May 21.

After completing the tour of Asia, some players will be required to join up with their national teams ahead of an international window from June 2 to June 10.

United's preparations for the 2025-26 season are set to kick-off less than a month later with a friendly against Leeds United in Stockholm on July 19.

The squad are then due to fly to Chicago on July 22 for a three-game tour of the U.S. The new Premier League season is set to start on Aug. 16.

"We appreciate the amazing level of support that Manchester United enjoys around the world and this summer we are delighted to deliver a schedule that provides our fans in Asia, Scandinavia and the United States the opportunity to connect with the club and watch the men's first team play live in local settings," Berrada said.

Greg Millen, a longtime NHL goaltender and hockey analyst, died on Monday. He was 67.

The NHL Alumni Association didn't provide a cause in announcing his death on social media.

Millen suited up in 14 NHL seasons with six different teams -- the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. He finished his career 215-284-89 with a 3.88 goals-against average. He also had 17 shutouts.

After his playing career, Millen immediately slid over into broadcasting. He was with the Ottawa Senators during their inaugural season in 1992-93.

Over his broadcasting career, Millen was part of CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada" and the NHL on Sportsnet. He covered three Olympic Games, two World Cups of Hockey, 12 Stanley Cup finals and 12 NHL All-Star games.

The NHL is saddened by the passing of Greg Millen, a veteran of 14 NHL seasons as a goaltender and more than three decades as a broadcaster. Millen will be missed as a respected TV analyst on Hockey Night in Canada and with Sportsnet. Our thoughts are with his family, his... pic.twitter.com/JpKfRNbSWi

NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) April 8, 2025

"The Pittsburgh Penguins extend their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of former Penguins goaltender and NHL broadcaster, Greg Millen," the team wrote in a statement on social media. Millen was a sixth-round pick of the Penguins in 1977.

The Blues echoed those sentiments on social media. Millen spent parts of six seasons with St. Louis.

Chris Pronger, a Hall of Fame defenseman, posted on social media: "Sad day learning of Greg Millen's passing. He was one of the first NHL players I got to interact with when I was in Peterborough. He was in between NHL jobs and wanted to get some shots. Generous with his time and talking about the game. Lost a great man today. RIP Millsy."

In a statement, Sportsnet said Millen was a "trusted and familiar voice in the homes of millions of Canadians for more than 30 years." The network added: "As both a player and broadcaster, Greg left an indelible mark on the sport, as well as everyone who had the pleasure to know him, watch him, and listen to him."

Leicester City's Jeremy Monga became the second-youngest Premier League player when he made his senior debut in Monday's 3-0 loss to Newcastle United,

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri remains the youngest Premier League player in history, having debuted in the competition when he was 90 days younger than Monga.

He had to wear a blank shirt on Monday because it is sponsored by an online cryptocurrency gaming platform.

Britain's Gambling Act 2005, which underwent a review in 2020, prohibits players under 18 from wearing kits displaying gambling sponsors.

Monga, an England under-16 international, made his senior debut at 15 years, 271 days old.

Leicester, who suffered an eighth straight loss in the league without scoring a goal, are 19th in the standings, 15 points below the safety zone.

A man has been charged after an alleged assault of Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The incident occurred at the end of City's Premier League clash with Manchester United, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

It is alleged that Grealish was slapped in the face by a man close to the Old Trafford tunnel as the two sets of players walked off the pitch after full-time.

City have declined to comment. United sources told ESPN that the club are cooperating with the investigation.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have confirmed to ESPN that 20-year-old Alfie Holt of Haven Drive, Droylsden has been charged with assault. He will appear at Manchester Magistrates Court on 14 July.

A GMP statement read: "This charge relates to an incident which took place at Old Trafford Football Club on Sunday, April 6, 2025."

Following the derby, City manager Pep Guardiola accused United fans of a "lack of class" after derogatory chants were directed at Phil Foden's mother.

City sources said they had been shocked by the number of fans involved in the chants while sources close to United said they condemn "abusive chants against all players."

"Lack of class; but it's not United, it's the people," Guardiola said when about the chants.

"We are so exposed, people who are on the screen in world football -- managers, owners, and football players especially.

"It is honestly, I don't understand in the mind of the people involving the mum of Phil, being involved in that.

"It's a lack of integrity, class, and they should be ashamed, but it is what it is; it's happening everywhere, I would say, not just in the UK."

SAN ANTONIO -- Nearly an hour after Houston coach Kelvin Sampson walked off the court amid flurries of Florida-colored orange and blue confetti, he stood in front of a black curtain in a hallway at the Alamodome.

Sampson, 69, faced a phalanx of television lights that illuminated him at his most crushing professional low. The lights shined on his close-cropped hair, which is more salt than pepper, as midnight quickly approached.

With his arms folded across his chest and an NCAA National Final pin adjacent to the UH logo on his gray polo, Sampson distilled the disappointment of Houston squandering a 12-point lead in the second half and ending the national title game with four consecutive turnovers in a 65-63 loss to Florida.

"There's a lot of teams that are not built for six straight wins," Sampson said, referring to the number needed to win the NCAA tournament. "This team was, this team was built, this team had the character and the toughness and the leadership. This team was built to win this tournament, and that's why it's so disappointing. We got here and had a chance and just didn't get it done."

The scene unfolded as the inverse of Houston's stunning comeback win over Duke in the national semifinal. On Monday, the Cougars wilted in the final minute, somehow not having a ball touch the rim on the final three possessions.

Nearly 48 hours after scoring the game's last nine points in 33 seconds to stun the Blue Devils on Saturday, Houston managed to lose a game it controlled throughout and trailed for only 63 seconds.

Florida's first lead in the second half came with 46 seconds remaining. Sampson called it "incomprehensible" that the Cougars couldn't get a shot off on the final two possessions, as Houston closed the game with back-to-back turnovers by star guard Emanuel Sharp.

Florida mustered the third-biggest comeback in NCAA title game history, and that left the Houston locker room a mirror image of the devastation it had wrought two nights earlier.

On Monday night, as reporters entered that locker room, Cougars guard Milos Uzan escorted Sharp away from the media. Sharp wore a towel over his head as he walked away, and he could be heard wailing as Uzan attempted to console him.

"That's me, bro," Sharp was overheard saying. He then screamed an expletive, accentuating the consonants.

An intermittently flushing toilet occasionally cut through the awkward interviews in the quiet locker room. Houston's Joseph Tugler summed up the devastation simply: "That broke everybody's heart."

Sharp's pain stemmed from the back-to-back possessions to end the game, his only two turnovers, which Sampson termed "a couple tough possessions decisionwise."

With Houston facing its first deficit of the half in the final minute, Sharp drove to the basket with nearly 30 seconds remaining and got stripped by Florida's Will Richard, who was a help defender. Richard essentially forced Sharp to kick the ball out of bounds with 26 seconds left.

After Florida's Denzel Aberdeen made one of two free throws, Houston had the ball down two with 19 seconds left. Florida's defense stymied Houston's early offensive action then Sharp caught the ball nearly 6 feet behind the 3-point line with five seconds remaining.

Sharp went straight up to attempt a long 3-pointer, but what would have been a 28-footer never got off. Walter Clayton Jr. sniffed out his desperation and lunged at him midair with an outstretched left hand, and it put Sharp in the unenviable position of getting his shot blocked or letting the ball drop.

Sharp shielded Clayton as the ball hit the floor, and Florida's Alex Condon made the hustle play to seal the game by snagging his fourth steal of the night. Sharp slumped down a few feet from his final turnover, his elbows perched atop his knees and fists covering his face as he looked toward the floor.

"I told him I loved him," Sampson said when asked what he told Sharp. "I told him I loved him, and I really focused on the job he did on Clayton. He did an awesome job on him. He made a couple reads that I'm sure he wish he'd had over, but we don't get there without that kid."

Sharp played gritty defense on Clayton as Houston's primary defender on the Florida guard. Clayton finished with 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting, taking more than 32 minutes to score a field goal.

Sampson hoped that Sharp would have shot-faked and got into the paint. But instead, Clayton lunged at Sharp with his left arm extended, and the contest froze Sharp. It made for an unusual key play to win the game, as more than 20 years after Syracuse's Hakim Warrick delivered the biggest blocked shot in NCAA tournament history to beat Kansas, Clayton will have the most replayed contest.

The other two Houston miscues to close the game included one turnover off an offensive rebound by Tugler and another on a baseline drive to nowhere by L.J. Cryer that culminated when Cryer essentially flipped the ball into Condon's chest in the paint.

Cryer summed up the overall tenor of missed opportunity this way: "It was definitely there for the taking."

A win would have marked Sampson's 800th career victory and his first national title and likely would have pushed him to the Basketball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Instead, he hustled off the court in disbelief after the handshake line. Sampson's daughter, Lauren, ran to him in the tunnel and hugged him. "I'm OK," he told her.

As Houston's assistant coaches sat in their locker room and stared into space, assistant Kellen Sampson, the coach's son, summed up the fickle bounces of the tournament's fate this way.

"It's a brutal, cruel guillotine," he said, "and when you get here, every team is so good and you don't get here without a team that's connected, resilient, tough. The margins are so razor-thin. We certainly did enough tonight to win. Florida did, as well, and they won."

SAN ANTONIO -- With four seconds on the clock, the entire Alamodome stood still. Both Florida and Houston paused.

Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp had gone up to shoot a potential winning 3 with 4.9 seconds left but was forced to adjust when Walter Clayton Jr. came flying out to contest. Sharp dropped the ball with 4.2 seconds left, hoping a teammate would pick it up and bail him out. But nobody moved, not a Houston player nor a Florida player.

Gators forward Alex Condon finally dove on the ball with 2.0 seconds left, securing it and tossing it toward Clayton. The buzzer sounded, Clayton slammed the ball on the ground, and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson looked on in stunned silence.

The Florida Gators were national champions, erasing a 12-point second-half deficit before holding on for a 65-63 win over Houston.

"I was kind of just thinking about what to do, if I should go for it and leave my man," Condon told ESPN. "But once he kind of backed off and tried to guard off Walt, I realized he is not going to pick up the ball. So I dived as hard as I could and got the ball. It was great."

It was a fitting ending for a game that flipped narratives. Monday's title game was billed as a matchup between two of the most dominant units in the sport this season: Florida's offense versus Houston's defense. But it was the Gators' defense that made the difference down the stretch.

Houston had just four turnovers in the first 36:35 of Monday's game but gave it away five times in the final 3:24 -- including three times in the final minute. During one stretch in the second half, Florida got stops on nine straight Houston possessions.

"We've been a top-10 defense all year also. We've been able to stand up against really good offensive teams and find a way to get stops," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "We held them scoreless the last 2:20. Walter, great closeout, and Condo, great hustle play to win the game. That's what made this team special all year, that we can win different ways, and we showed that again tonight."

Since Sampson took over at Houston, the Cougars' identity has been toughness, physicality and bullying teams into submission at the defensive end and on the offensive glass. On Monday, the team imposing its will -- especially in the second half -- was Florida. The Gators had fewer offensive rebounds than Houston but more second-chance points. They forced more turnovers after halftime than the Cougars.

And after Houston was forced to go with a four-guard lineup because of foul trouble, Florida dictated the terms of the game.

"We were starting to wear them down," Florida associate head coach Carlin Hartman told ESPN. "That is very unusual for a Kelvin Sampson-like team because they're the ones that normally do the wearing down and the punking and so forth. But the fact that we have four really good bigs that can play different styles, but also be very physical and be very disruptive, I think it just wore those guys down. And I looked at them, and with about five minutes to go, I was like, they're wearing down. They're tired.

"It's winning time. Let's do what we do."

For the third straight game, Florida had to overcome a significant second-half deficit. In the Elite Eight, Texas Tech led by as many as 10 in the second half and nine with three minutes to go. In the Final Four, Auburn had a nine-point lead early in the second half. And on Monday, Houston led by 12 in the second half -- giving the Cougars a 93.9% chance to win, according to ESPN Analytics -- before the Gators came back. It's tied for the third-largest deficit overcome to win a national championship game.

"You have to have the mental toughness to be able to withstand a little adversity," Golden said. "Our guys knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Didn't panic when it got tough. As Will [Richard] talked about, they did a great job of never getting too high, never getting too low. When we went down 12 in the second half, we stayed the course. We didn't point fingers, didn't start to try to make hero plays, gambling defensively. We got rewarded because of that toughness that we displayed."

"Our back is against the wall," Alijah Martin told ESPN. "But we enjoy it. Every time our backs are against the wall, we respond as champions, as professionals. And it showed up on the biggest stage. And we're national champs."

There is a case to be made that Florida didn't play a complete game in the NCAA tournament after it beat Norfolk State in the first round. And it's a testament to the Gators' resilience that they were able to beat the nation's best defense without getting another incredible performance from All-America guard Clayton.

The leadup to Monday's title game centered almost entirely around Clayton, who was on a run not seen since Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier carried UConn to a pair of titles in the early 2010s.

It was evident immediately that Houston's scouting report did, too.

After scoring a combined 64 points in his previous two games, Clayton didn't score his first point against the Cougars until the 14:57 mark of the second half. He didn't make his first field goal until there was 7:54 left in the game. Houston made life miserable for Clayton, aggressively hard-hedging on ball screens, not allowing him to get in a rhythm going left, which is where he's at his most effective. But his frustration never showed, his demeanor never changed.

Clayton took what Houston's defense did give him, racking up seven assists before he scored his first point. During a second half that quickly devolved into a game of whistles, an endless parade of players going to the free throw line, the star guard came to life. He had two three-point plays in less than a minute, then hit a huge 3-pointer with 3:14 left to tie the game at 60. He also made multiple defensive plays, getting a steal that led to points when Florida trailed by 10 and then guarding Sharp late in the game, forcing him into the game-sealing turnover.

He finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, winning the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player award.

"He's put together the greatest individual campaign in the history of Florida basketball, and it's a campaign for the record books," said Jonathan Safir, Florida's director of basketball strategy and analytics. "He did it with a ridiculous display of shotmaking, charisma, and the best part of it all is the last possession of the game. He did it with defense. It's really a testament to him, his work ethic, his character, and he deserves to have his jersey retired in the O'Connell Center."

Monday marked Florida's third national championship since 2006 and made the 39-year-old Golden the youngest head coach to win a title since Jim Valvano guided NC State to a championship in 1983.

After the final buzzer and the cutting down of the nets, Golden was one of the first Florida coaches back at the locker room. With a net draped around his neck, he stood outside waiting for everyone else to join him. He high-fived and hugged every player and staff member before they went in the locker room to the sounds of Chief Keef's "Faneto" and 50 Cent's "Many Men."

Golden built a team this season predicated on offense, a group that could push the ball with pace and shoot plenty of 3-pointers. But on Monday, it was everything else that allowed them to win the title.

"I do think what separates us and has separated us all season long is our team talent, how our guys have played together and for each other all year," he said. "Because of that, we can call each other national champions for the rest of our lives."

SAN ANTONIO -- When Walter Clayton Jr. decided to withdraw from the NBA draft last year, he posted his announcement with a simple message on Instagram: "1 more."

In 2023-24, his first season with the Florida Gators, the team finished 24-12. The Gators had a few big wins -- notably over then-No. 10 Kentucky in January and in the SEC tournament, where they reached the championship game -- but their season ended with a first-round upset loss to 10-seed Colorado in the NCAA tournament.

Clayton had unfinished business. And when he showed up for his junior season at Florida, something was different.

As he entered the lobby of a Birmingham, Alabama, hotel for SEC media day, he looked to have packed on more muscle during an arduous offseason. He'd also chopped off his braids, a new style for the star who also had a new role and a new position.

But Clayton's biggest change was not visible that day, though it was there.

"We took a huge step this summer, bettering our games," Clayton said then. "Everybody has been in the gym. I think the team is a lot more focused now. I think it's going to be a great year."

And it was, perhaps greater than anything Clayton -- the 2025 NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player -- and the Gators could have imagined at the time.

But it didn't come easy.

For the first 25 minutes and three seconds of Florida's 65-63 championship victory over Houston, Clayton didn't score a single point. It was only his third scoreless half of the season, as the Cougars' game plan clearly aimed to stall him.

"Our goal was twofold: One, we didn't want to give him any fast-break layups," Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said after the game. "He's really good at getting the ball out and getting down the court before the other team gets their defense set. So we took that away. And we did not want to give up any 3s going left, and we were awesome with that except once, and it shows you how good he is. The one time he got one, he made it."

Even against that pressure, Clayton -- who finished 3-for-10 and scored all of his 11 points after halftime -- whipped passes around the court to open teammates for key assists in the first half until his shots began to fall late in the game.

"For the first five or six minutes, the first eight minutes of the second half, they still made life really hard on [Clayton]," Florida head coach Todd Golden said. "When he came out, I thought [Denzel Aberdeen] stepped up, gave us great minutes, gave [Clayton] some rest so we could finish."

Amid the adversity, Monday night's title game also highlighted the leader Clayton became to this team over the past five months. Because even when he was cold, he was also selfless. His teammates never doubted him. And he delivered for them when his defense on Emanuel Sharp in the closing seconds led to a turnover that sealed the win.

"I told him, 'Keep being you. Keep being aggressive. We trust you, and we're going to figure it out,'" Alijah Martin said about Clayton's scoring drought. "And that's what we did."

Florida's road to its third national championship and its first in 18 years started back in May, when Clayton withdrew from the NBA draft and changed the trajectory of the Gators' 2024-25 season. That choice remains the most significant domino that led this team to the title it won Monday night in San Antonio.

This is the story of Florida's run to the national championship, from the beginning all the way through the season's conclusion.

CLAYTON ALWAYS HAD big basketball dreams.

Even as SEC schools like Florida and Georgia tried to attract him to their campuses with football scholarships, he wouldn't relent. He quit football as a sophomore because he so badly wanted to be a basketball star, but the pandemic had robbed him of a chance to play on the summer circuit and earn high-major offers. At Iona, however, Rick Pitino's guidance helped Clayton win MAAC Player of the Year in 2023 before he darted into the transfer portal and back home to play at Florida. He was an All-SEC second-team selection last season with real NBA aspirations, but he ultimately decided his dreams needed more time to cook in Gainesville, so he withdrew from the draft.

His decision to return served his ambitions on a few levels. Clayton wanted more time with his 1-year-old daughter, Leilani, who lives near Gainesville. But he also came back to improve his game and raise his draft stock.

"I think for him, going to get NBA workouts last spring and summer, I think it was really, really big for him," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "To be able to get some good feedback from six or seven NBA teams -- it really motivated him."

To achieve his NBA dreams, however, Clayton also knew he'd need more opportunities to prove he could be a playmaker at the next level. Golden had a solution: He moved Clayton to point guard.

"Watching him play pickup, pushing the ball in transition, he showed to us and proved to us that he could do that, become the primary ball handler and lead the team," Golden said. "I think he's done an incredible job of getting himself in great shape. He works on his game a ton. Having someone that's such an elite threat to score with the ball in his hands at all times obviously makes everybody else so dangerous as well."

Clayton's renewed motivation upon his return inspired his teammates, as well. The Gators had visions of a bright future as soon as the offseason, after workouts with Clayton at his new position and the seamless integration of Florida Atlantic star Alijah Martin. They knew they had a chance to be good. And they were determined to do everything they could to get better.

To create a more unified group, Victor Lopez, the team's strength and conditioning coach, turned to his military roots. Lopez, a former member of the United States Marines who served in Iraq, met with the leaders who ran the Marines ROTC office on campus and asked them to put the Gators through military-style workouts.

At 6 a.m. last summer in the dew-soaked grass of Gainesville, the Gators did bear crawls, carried weights across fields, flipped tires and completed situps with large logs sitting on their chests.

"It was pretty simple: It was to see if guys would break under stress," Lopez said.

But Lopez had other goals. He purposely paired some of the toughest players on his team with players who had not yet developed a similar resilience. The Gators left those summer drills with a new feeling: They also knew they'd never quit.

"It was hard," Rueben Chinyelu said. "But it's just something that kept us going. We were having fun while doing it, but we were also competing. We learned who wanted to compete. Who has that competitive spirit, who wants to give up, who doesn't want to give up, who wants to take care of things even when it's difficult ... Just being able to do that helped us learn more about each other and know what we can do."

THOUGH THE PLAYERS were confident, outside the program, there were more questions than answers about Florida entering the season.

"A lot of questions were asked last summer and this fall if we would have enough ballhandling on this team, enough playmaking," Golden said.

As a result of those doubts, the Gators were picked to finish sixth in the SEC's preseason poll, behind Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas A&M. But their fast start to the season suggested they might be a contender in 2024-25.

Although the Gators didn't play a tough nonconference schedule (ranked 238th in the country, according to KenPom), they were dominant -- and undefeated -- in November and December. Entering a Dec. 17 matchup against North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, the Gators had defeated their first 10 opponents of the season by an average of 21.1 points per game. But that slate had also featured seven sub-100 KenPom opponents. North Carolina, which had struggled against one of the tougher nonconference slates in the country, represented Florida's toughest test of the season to date.

That night, the Spectrum Center sounded like the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, with thousands of Tar Heels fans in the building. The Gators went up early, but North Carolina bounced back: With 7:50 to go, the Tar Heels took a two-point lead on Seth Trimble's three-point play.

The Gators didn't panic -- they regained control of the game and held on to win 90-84 after a pair of three-point plays by Clayton in the final minutes.

The adversity they had anticipated this season had finally arrived -- and they had managed to fight through it.

"That's when we knew," Clayton said, "that we belonged."

The pundits took notice, too. Undefeated and with a new top-10 ranking, the Gators had changed their fortunes and attracted national buzz.

With Clayton (39% from the 3-point line) running the show, Florida blossomed into one of the top offensive units in the country. Per Synergy Sports data, Florida -- No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom -- is rated as an "excellent" team in pick-and-roll situations. Clayton had emerged as an SEC Player of the Year contender, too. It was clear that his supporting cast could compete with any group in the country.

Yet, those early highs had another effect: The Gators had, admittedly, lost some of their edge.

"Obviously, we went undefeated in nonconference," Clayton said. "Whenever you lose a game, some teams bounce back differently."

In their first SEC matchup, the Gators ran into a Kentucky squad that was just as comfortable in high-scoring affairs as they were. Mark Pope's offensive system had already spawned four 100-point efforts by the time the Wildcats hosted Florida at Rupp Arena on Jan. 4.

That day, the Gators produced 139 points per 100 possessions, an incredible scoring rate. But Kentucky (147 points per 100 possessions) was even better. In its first loss of the year, Florida had been bested at its own game.

"We started off not the way we wanted to," Alex Condon said about the 106-100 loss at Kentucky. "They shot the lights out of it."

HUMBLED, THE GATORS had to regroup. They were a team that had not tasted defeat in November and December and had entered the SEC schedule with momentum. But after only 40 minutes of conference play, they were regarded as a program that might have achieved its lofty record as a result of its soft nonconference schedule, not its talent.

"I honestly was as excited as you can be after that [loss at Kentucky]," Golden said. "A lot of people have questioned the strength of schedule we played in nonconference. Going on the road, playing in Rupp Arena against a team that we knew was really good, we didn't guard necessarily well enough, but we played well in that game. It was a great game. In a way, it gave us confidence moving toward."

Regardless, the Gators did not have time to sulk. The SEC would not allow it. The strongest conference in America -- perhaps the strongest conference of the past 30 years in men's college basketball -- created nightly challenges for its members, and Florida's next assignment featured the league's most imposing outfit at the time: a No. 1-ranked Tennessee squad that had not lost a game.

The Gators responded with a lopsided, 30-point win over the Volunteers.

It was their first home win over a No. 1 team and just the third victory against a top-ranked squad in school history. Martin, Condon and Denzel Aberdeen all finished in double figures that day. The Gators also amassed one of their best wins in program history without Clayton (seven points) playing like a star. That night, Florida demonstrated that it was not a one-man show. But the Gators also showed they could play elite defense, proved by Tennessee's 15-point tally in the first half.

"I think that week, with those two contests, explained to us and built a lot of belief within our program that we belonged at the top of the SEC," Golden said.

Sure enough, by February, the Gators had risen to the top tier of the conference. But next up was a trip to top-ranked Auburn, a squad that had won 14 consecutive games. Star Johni Broome had emerged as a true threat to Duke's Cooper Flagg in the race for the Wooden Award.

If the matchup alone wasn't enough of a challenge for the Gators, they had other issues. Martin had suffered a hip injury and would not be available for the game. Short-handed, Florida was quickly down 15-5. The Auburn crowd cheered in anticipation of the extension of the Tigers' winning streak.

Clayton (19 points) had other ideas, however, as he led a 43-23 run in the last 15 minutes of the first half. It was an insurmountable rally by the Gators.

"I think we just played very unselfish that game," Condon said.

It was a sign of things to come for Clayton and a source of newfound confidence for a Gators team that had traveled 312 miles to get the most significant win of its season to date.

"We were locked in. I noticed from pregame warmups that guys were dialed in, locked in and ready to take on the No. 1 team in the country," Martin said. "Throughout the game, we were just playing hard. We were super physical. We weren't worried about the referees or the calls."

And more importantly, if the Gators could beat Auburn on the road -- well, they could probably beat anyone, anywhere, they thought.

DURING A PRACTICE ahead of the NCAA tournament, Clayton calmly dribbled a ball near midcourt and casually launched a shot.

It went in.

"He does it all the time in practice," Aberdeen said. "It's nothing new to us."

Nothing about Clayton's achievements in the NCAA tournament have surprised the Gators. But those who had not followed his maturation into an AP first team All-American would soon see for themselves.

In the opening round of the tournament, Clayton (23 points, 4-for-9 from the 3-point line) led a team that scored 53 points in the first 16:45 of its win over Norfolk State. Florida finished with a clip of 144 points per 100 possessions. For perspective, the Golden State Warriors team that won a title with Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson during the 2016-17 season recorded a rate of 115 points per 100 possessions.

From there, Clayton (23 points) helped the Gators beat UConn, the defending champion, with clutch shots down the stretch of that game. And when his team needed him after Condon reaggravated his ankle injury against Maryland in the Sweet 16, Clayton delivered and became a playmaker to push Florida to the finish line.

But the Elite Eight matchup against Texas Tech is what made Clayton a household name. With the Gators down nine points with 3:14 to play, Condon looked over at Clayton during a late timeout.

"He was just calm," he said.

Clayton scored eight of his 30 points during a game-winning run that also included clutch plays by Martin, Haugh and Will Richard.

"There was like a minute and a half left, 20 seconds left on the shot clock, and he gets the ball in the middle of the paint," Micah Handlogten said. "He dribbles straight outside the 3-point line. He hits a turnaround 3-pointer to go up by one. I don't even know what was going through his head."

Sure, the Gators knew they were good. But that run? It made them feel like they might be a team of destiny.

AUBURN WANTED REVENGE. After its home loss to Florida on Feb. 8, Dylan Cardwell called a players-only meeting. In that room, the Tigers were not shy about calling one another out following the loss.

They also replayed film of their victory over Iowa State in the Maui Invitational for three consecutive days. Why? They wanted to remember what it had been like to play with an intensity they'd lacked against the Gators two months before their rematch in the Final Four.

Things would be different this time, it seemed. Early in the second half on Saturday, Auburn had a nine-point edge after the Tigers outplayed Florida in the first half.

But it didn't matter. Because the Gators had Clayton.

"I feel like he's in the zone every time he touches the rock," Sam Alexis said about the team's confidence in Clayton. "We've got Walt. He's going to let it fly."

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl had vowed that Clayton "can't be the best player" on the court in the rematch, but the Florida star scored a career-high 34 points in the Alamodome on Saturday.

"That Walter Clayton Jr. is the real deal," former North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said from his seat in the front row. "He's the real deal."

Everyone in the building felt the same way after Clayton's 30-point games in the Elite Eight and the Final Four, a feat in men's basketball that had not been achieved since Larry Bird pulled it off for Indiana State in 1979, per ESPN Research.

Prior to Saturday's game, Clayton had been viewed as an exceptional talent who could carry Florida to the national title. But after that game against Auburn, he'd put himself in a position to leave San Antonio with a different label: legend.

"I probably should have done more to trap the ball out of his hands a little bit," Pearl said after his team's loss. "Believe it or not, that was part of our game plan, but we just didn't execute it. Just sort of say all things are kind of equal: Clayton was the difference. He was just flat out the difference. We couldn't contain him down on that end."

Two nights later, for 25 minutes and three seconds, Houston seemed to have found the kryptonite. Clayton -- who'd scored 64 points combined in his two previous outings -- was scoreless until early in the second half, when he hit a pair of free throws.

The Gators had spent the night at the Alamodome tussling their way out of a double-digit deficit, waiting for their star to don his cape and save them again.

But just when it seemed as if Clayton's candle had burned out, he did the only thing he knew to do: He kept fighting.

There was a 3-point play late in the game. Then another tough bucket, a foul and free throw. He looked in the air and screamed after that shot. It looked like it was all coming back to him. He could feel it happening again.

And sure enough, a clutch Clayton 3-pointer tied the game, 60-60, with 3:14 to play.

But he saved his best work for the final play of the game. After Sharp caught a pass at the top of the arc and prepared to launch a potential game winner, Clayton flew toward him with his arms outstretched. A flustered Sharp dropped the ball and could not touch it again without risking a double-dribble violation.

Then, Condon pounced on the loose ball as the buzzer blasted through the arena.

The Gators had won the championship.

"That closeout?" Florida associate head coach Carlin Hartman said about Clayton's defensive effort in the final seconds. "That won the game for us."

In the end, Clayton showed up before it was too late.

Because, as Florida has known all season and Houston learned firsthand on Monday night, it's never too late when Clayton is on the floor.

PHOENIX -- Zach Eflin's great night on the mound had a sour ending Monday after the Baltimore Orioles right-hander left a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks because of shoulder fatigue.

Eflin gave up only one run and four hits over six innings, but his velocity dipped in the sixth. The 30-year-old mentioned the fatigue to manager Brandon Hyde between innings, which was enough to shut him down for the evening.

The Orioles beat the Diamondbacks 5-1. Eflin threw 73 pitches.

"We're going to get some tests done, and hopefully, keeping our fingers crossed, everything's OK there," Hyde said. "Because he was absolutely cruising and so efficient. We're hoping for the best tomorrow."

Eflin said he was "pretty optimistic" the issue wouldn't be a long-term setback, adding that his exit, he thought, was "precautionary. We'll evaluate it tomorrow, and see how I feel after sleeping tonight."

The Orioles have already lost key reliever Albert Suárez for a couple of months after the right-hander was moved to the 60-day injured list Monday because of a shoulder injury.

Eflin was 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA over nine starts for the Orioles last season after being acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. He is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA through three starts this season.

"Listen, we won, 5-1, we played great defense, had an offensive game. It was a good day at the yard," Eflin said. "Unfortunately, I had a little bit of fatigue. But we'll see how it feels tomorrow."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.