Florida basketball falls to Colorado in March Madness on last second shot

INDIANAPOLIS — The first NCAA Tournament trip for Florida basketball since 2021 turned out to be a short stay.

The No. 7 seed Florida Gators lost in heartbreaking fashion, falling 102-100 to Colorado on a basket by Buffaloes point guard KJ Simpson with 2.4 seconds remaining.

The shot ended Florida basketball coach Todd Golden's second season at 24-12. Golden dropped to 0-2 in NCAA Tournament games.

Florida rallied back from a 13-point second-half deficit, tying the score at 100 with 9.3 seconds left on a 22-foot 3-pointer by Walter Clayton Jr.

But Colorado coach Tad Boyle called a timeout with 6.8 seconds left, setting up a play from Simpson, whose baseline jumper rolled around the rim before falling through the net.

Clayton Jr. scored a team-high 33 points, including UF's final 16 points, going 10 of 17 from the floor, 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 9 of 10 from the foul line.

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Simpson led five Colorado scorers in double figures with 23 points, with center Eddie Lampkin adding 21 points.

Florida led by as many as 10 points in the first half, going up 24-14 on a Kugel fastbreak dunk. But with Samuel on the bench with two fouls, Colorado stormed back, taking its first lead, 36-35, on a spinning layup by Lampkin with 3:34 left.

From there, Florida and Colorado traded baskets. A 3-pointer by UF sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen put Florida up 45-43 with 25 seconds remaining, but Simpson hit a turn-around jumper at the first-half buzzer, tying the score at 45 at halftime.

The Gators shot 51.5% from the field in the first half and 50% (6-12) from 3-point range.

Here are three takeaways from the UF loss:

Too many lapses for the Florida basketball defense

The Gators simply didn't defend well enough in a high-level game, allowing Colorado to shoot 63% from the field and 60% from 3-point range. During one second-half stretch, Colorado made 16 baskets in 18 trips.

Gators can't survive center Tyrese Samuel, Alex Condon foul trouble

Samuel picked up his second foul before the eight-minute mark in the first half and his third foul before the 15-minute mark in the second half. Without him on the floor for stretches, it was harder for Florida to score, defend and rebound in the paint. Condon, in his first career start, fouled out with 2:19 remaining on a questionable call going for a 50-50 ball near the rim.

Colorado basketball takes advantage of foul imbalance at the free throw line

Colorado got to the free-throw line 33 times, compared to 22 trips for Florida.

Florida basketball coach Todd Golden, frustrated over a call against freshman Alex Condon that initially wasn't heard due to a broken whistle, was whistled up for a technical. The Buffaloes made three straight free throws, extending their lead to 82-72.