Walter Clayton Jr. gets candid on struggles vs Houston, explains how he motivated himself in Florida's championship-winning comeback

Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. led his team to a national championship win after the Gators mounted a second-half comeback to beat the No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars 65-63 on Monday. Clayton tallied 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists as the dominant Gators won their first national title in 18 years.

Despite his offensive struggles, Clayton was responsible for the game's defining moment: forcing a turnover from Cougars star Emanuel Sharp that allowed the Gators to close out the game.

During his postgame news conference, Walter Clayton revealed how he dealt with his off night.

"These guys around me men, like I said," Clayton said (4:35). "My motto, 'All can go.' So, I understand, if it ain't my night, somebody gonna pick me up. We understand that we've been picking each other up throughout the year and tonight was nothing different.

"I think the way we won tonight is an exclamation night on the year and it's great to just win like that. Knowing the fact that we're just a brotherhood, together, we've just been picking each other up all year."

Will Richard put up 18 points to keep the Gators in the contest, while L.J. Cryer led the Cougars with 19.

Florida point guard Walter Clayton shone despite Cougars' game plan

Despite being one of the best players at the NCAA Tournament and in the country, Walter Clayton Jr. did not score a single point in the first 25 minutes and three seconds of the national championship game. He scored all of his 11 points in the second half.

During his postgame news conference, a stunned Houston Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson revealed how he had schemed to stop the Gators' danger man.

"Our goal was twofold: One, we didn't want to give him (Clayton) any fast-break layups," Sampson said. "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. 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."

Clayton has been a class above most players in the country and has averaged 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season. During his postgame news conference, Florida coach Todd Golden hailed his star's performance despite being cold for most of 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]," Golden said. "When he came out, I thought [Denzel Aberdeen] stepped up, gave us great minutes, gave [Clayton] some rest so we could finish."

Walter Clayton withdrew his name from last year's NBA draft after the Florida Gators were stunned in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by the Colorado Buffaloes, and he decided to run it back. A decision that has paid handsome dividends for the Gators after he led them to both the Southeastern Conference Tournament and national championship titles.