Clayton breaks Florida record with a 3 in 42nd consecutive game

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. broke the school record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer at South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Clayton’s 3 from the right side with 14:06 left in the game extended his streak to 42, passing Michael Frazier to take the top spot on the Gators’ list.

Clayton hit at least one three in Florida’s final 23 games last season and has done the same in every game this season for the fifth-ranked Gators. He passed Anthony Roberson (28), Craig Brown (29), Brett Nelson (33), Kenny Boynton (34) and Lee Humphrey (39) in the past two months before taking aim at Frazier’s mark set between Jan. 23, 2014, and Jan. 24, 2015.

“It talks about two things: No. 1 is confidence, and No. 2 is consistency,” Florida coach Todd Golden said a day before the game. “Walt’s obviously one of the most talented players in America. He does not need much time or space to be able to get those shots up.

“His consistency and his competitiveness for us have been elite all year, and he’s a guy that he makes you a better coach, being able to roll him out there every night and let him play with the freedom that he does.”

Clayton, a senior who transferred to Florida in 2023 after two seasons at Iona, entered the game as Florida’s leading scorer and leading 3-point shooter. He was averaging a career-high 17.9 points to go along with 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds, and he had made 51 of 139 (.367) from behind the arc.

“Having a guy that has the ball in his hands a lot, being a huge scoring threat is really valuable,” Golden said. “Back in the day, (it was) pass-first point guards. The game has changed a little bit, and those guys are good, but if you’re not a real threat to score when you have the ball?

“You see it a lot in the NBA that a point guard, if he can put 20 on somebody in a given night, it makes you a lot more of a threat.”

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