SAN ANTONIO | Bruce Pearl repeatedly stated that Walter Clayton Jr. would be the best player on the court when Auburn and Florida battled in the Final Four on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Pearl was right as the guard took over in the second half, scoring eight straight points for the Gators as they defeated Auburn 79-73 in the national semifinals.

With the Gators up one and 4:29 to go, Clayton hit a three, his fifth of the game and third of the second half, to push Florida's lead to four. After Denver Jones hit a three to cut it back to one, Clayton drove to the basket and scored. The Iona transfer did it again on the next possession, getting fouled while putting the basket in the bucket to give Florida a six-point lead.

Auburn could cut the lead to only four the rest of the way.

"Well, he's a great player," Pearl said after the game. "He can go both ways. He can make tough shots. About the only thing, again, I probably should have done more is trap the ball out of his hands a little bit. Believe it or not, that was part of our game plan, but we just didn't execute it."

Clayton was at his best in the second half. The All-American hit from behind the arc to cut what was an Auburn eight-point lead at halftime to three. Two minutes later, he laid it in to give the Gators their first lead since the 10:21 mark of the first half.

He ended the game with 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three and perfect on all free throw attempts.

'I'll just say special, to be honest," Will Richard said. "He's special."