How Florida shut down Johni Broome in Final Four: Walter Clayton Jr. pep talk proved to be turning point

No. 1 seed Florida secured its spot in Monday night’s national championship game by shutting off the spigot of Johni Broome’s flow of offensive production that had it in the driver’s seat on the Road to the Final Four. The Gators rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit to win 79-73 by limiting Broome — who had 12 points in the first half and dominated the paint — to just three second-half points on four shot attempts.

It was a shuttering of the catalyst of Auburn’s success that led to the collapse of the Tigers’ offensive execution — and later its title hopes — down the stretch. And it was made possible by Florida’s abandonment of a flawed game plan that at one point looked destined to extinguish its chances of advancing.

The problems began early as Florida’s famously deep frontcourt began the game by playing Broome straight up, effectively ushering him right to the basket. 

He scored on his first possession by backing down from the perimeter to the paint for an easy bucket with little resistance. It turned out to be foreshadowing of the remainder of the first half. Auburn fed him on rolls to the rim, on the perimeter with space to gather steam for drives and on deep post touches — the bread and butter of its offense. 

He largely got to the rim either by force or by finesse unimpeded.

Then things changed. Walter Clayton Jr., the star of Florida’s win, gave the bigs a pep talk at halftime, center Thomas Haugh said postgame. That compelled them to play with more purpose and more physicality. 

“Walt[er Clayton Jr.] got our bigs together at halftime and gave us a talk,” Haugh said. “That’s not the kind of basketball we play. … That gave us motivation.”

What Florida has beyond its depth is its versatility. It not only has Alex Condon, a potential first-round pick at 6-foot-11 who can and did match up with Broome for big battles down the stretch. It also has 7-footer Micah Handlogten, 6-foot-10 center Reuben Chinyelu and a 6-foot-9 forward in Haugh who is racing in a hurry to stardom. All of them took turns bludgeoning Broome in the post in different ways, making the final 20 minutes of Auburn’s season — and Broome’s college career — as miserable as possible.

“Our bigs did a great job in the second half defending and rebounding,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “We did a great job guarding Johni in the second half. I think he was 1-for-4 in the second half.”

Broome scored a bucket with 15:12 remaining in the second half with an acrobatic, one-handed finish going right at Chinyelu. Those were his final points of the game.

Florida made three tweaks to shut Broome down; as a result, the Gators saved their season by denying Broome access to entry passes, by being physical when that didn’t work and by making him work for any space he earned in diverting driving lanes to his right hand.

“We started guarding more physically in the paint, making it harder for them to get to the basket,” Golden said. “We controlled the game in the second half.”

Auburn couldn’t get the ball to Broome and panicked when its primary option was inaccessible. It forced passes that weren’t there, leading to turnovers, and couldn’t find a rhythm when a semblance of one might’ve been all it needed. 

Florida’s ace-in-the-hole — its depth — won out. The combination of Condon, Chinyelu, Haugh and Handlogten proved too much in the end for Broome, who by game’s end looked gassed.

His final 5:05 consisted of three turnovers, 0-2 shooting from the free throw line, zero points and two fouls.

With Broome sitting at 12 points at halftime and Auburn owning a 26-14 advantage in paint points, Broome said this to CBS’ Tracy Wolfson: “Can’t get bullied in this game. Big boy game. They’re physical. We have to hit first.”

But Florida hit back and countered by wearing him down over, and over, and over again. Florida closed the gap in paint points, finishing with 30 to Auburn’s 34, eventually rendering Broome ineffective.

“We knew they’d come out aggressively,” Pearl said. “But I was hoping our starters would be able to withstand.”

In the end, Auburn, much like the rest of Florida’s foes lately, succumbed to the swarm of the Gators’ deep bench. Just like the second-round game vs. UConn and the Elite Eight game vs. Texas Tech, Florida showed it has the deepest team still standing in this year’s NCAA Tournament with a bench that helped it topple the No. 1 overall seed in Auburn.

“It was a function of our bigs and our depth,” Golden said. “[Broome] had a great first half, no one could stop him. … I thought our depth, being able to get Ruben and Condo a sub early, we wore them out.”