Alijah Martin never really liked talking too much about his first Final Four experience because of the heartbreaking way it ended with Florida Atlantic two years ago.
Now in what will be the graduate transfer guard's only season with Florida, he will get to play in the national championship game. He has already had an emphatic and electrifying impact for the Gators in this Final Four.
“This one means a lot. Because something I hadn’t done before was win a semifinal game in an NCAA Tournament,” Martin said Sunday. “And it was kind of a get-back for the FAU team and how we lost."
In Florida's 79-73 national semifinal victory over Southeastern Conference rival and No. 1 overall seed Auburn, the game was tied midway through the second half Saturday night when Martin beat All-American post Johni Broome to a loose ball for a momentum-turning steal and breakaway one-handed slam.
Martin later added another breakaway rim-rattling dunk, with two Tigers in the air around him. He finished with 17 points.
“The best thing he does for us is just those momentum plays,” Australian post Alex Condon said.
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"I was in front of him a little bit, I thought he was going to pass the ball,” Gators guard Will Richard said of the second dunk. “Once I saw him loading up, I was like, let me try to clear a little path for him. ... We've been waiting on him to get a dunk like that all year, so it's good to see him get it in the Final Four.”
The Gators (35-4), in their first NCAA title game since back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007, take on Big 12 champion Houston (35-4) on Monday night.
Martin played the past four seasons at FAU, and was part of the Owls' unlikely run to the Final Four in 2023. They had a 14-point lead against fellow mid-major San Diego State before Lamont Butler's buzzer-beating jumper gave the Aztecs a 72-71 semifinal victory. Martin had 26 points and seven rebounds in that game.
When deciding to go into the transfer portal last year, after coach Dusty May left FAU for Michigan, Martin said he “wanted to go somewhere where I felt wanted and needed.”
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The 6-foot-2 guard from Mississippi got to stay in Florida. While the Gators had the most returning players among his potential options, Martin had an immediate impact for a team that was coming off a first-round NCAA tourney loss.
“The mentality and the edge that he brought to this team from his first week on campus, I feel like that has risen our level of competitiveness and just the will to win on our team,” Richard said.
Condon, a sophomore, remembers what Martin was telling the team during conditioning work last summer.
“He was talking about, you know, you guys don’t know like what it takes to really get to the Final Four and win games in March,” Condon said. “We all kind of took a step back from that. ... By the end of it, we had a lot of trust that he really knew what he’s talking about and wasn’t going at anyone really. He was just saying, like, you guys need to trust me and just know what it’s going to take for us to get there.”
The national championship will be Martin's 38th game for the Gators, and the 162nd in his college career. His 14.6 points per game trail only All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. on the team this season. He averages 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
“Everybody on this team plays a significant role,” Martin said. “So I knew what I was bringing. I knew that I was going to be able to hold guys to a higher standard. and just raise the bar on those expectations.”
That bar gets no higher than a national title.
At a glance
Who: Florida Gators (35-4, 18-4 SEC) vs. Houston Cougars (35-4, 22-1 Big 12)
Where/when: San Antonio; Monday, 8:50 p.m.
Odds: BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Gators -1.5; over/under is 141
Bottom line: No. 2 Houston squares off against No. 3 Florida in the NCAA Tournament National Championship.
The Gators are 18-4 in SEC play. Florida ranks fourth in the SEC with 15.5 assists per game led by Walter Clayton Jr. averaging 4.1.
The Cougars have gone 22-1 against Big 12 opponents, with a 13-3 record in non-conference play. Houston has a 33-4 record against teams over .500.
Houston averages 8.2 made 3-pointers per game, 1.5 more made shots than the 6.7 per game Florida gives up. Florida averages 26.8 more points per game (85.3) than Houston gives up to opponents (58.5).
Top Performers: Clayton averages 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Gators, scoring 18.5 points while shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc. Alijah Martin is shooting 51.0% and averaging 14.2 points over the last 10 games.
LJ Cryer averages 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Cougars, scoring 15.6 points while shooting 42.7% from beyond the arc. Emanuel Sharp is shooting 40.4% and averaging 15.4 points over the past 10 games.
Last 10 games: Gators: 10-0, averaging 89.6 points, 38.8 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.2 points.
Cougars: 10-0, averaging 71.3 points, 34.6 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 41.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.9 points per game.
