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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A dominant frontcourt helped Florida earn another No. 1 seed and positioned the defending national champion Gators for a chance at a repeat.
They ran into a more physical team.
Ninth-seeded Iowa played tougher inside the paint and across the court, knocking No. 1 seed Florida out of the NCAA Tournament with a 73-72 victory on Sunday in the second round. The Gators became the first top seed eliminated from this year’s March Madness, and the first since Xavier in 2018 to fall to a No. 9 seed.
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“If their plan was to try to finish over our size at the rim, I would live with that any day of the week,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “That’s been a really bad formula for teams all year. We’ve been one of the best 2-point field goal defenses in America. We just didn’t to it tonight. Credit to them.
“I thought they were tough and physical and did a good job finishing around the rim and we did not. We did not do a good enough job preventing them from finishing it, but if that’s what they saw and they exploited it, then credit to them.”
Tavion Banks, who led Iowa with 20 points, said he knew the Hawkeyes could pull off an upset after reviewing Florida’s games.
“The physicality. We’re in two different conferences; we’re in the Big Ten, they’re in the SEC,” he said. “But I just know we’re more physical. And after just watching the film and just seeing what they were doing, I just knew that we had an opportunity to win the game.”
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It came down to the final seconds after Florida rallied from a 12-point deficit and had a 72-70 lead with 8.9 seconds remaining. Golden wanted his team to foul to prevent a 3-pointer, but Bennett Stirtz broke through the full-court press and saw Alvaro Folgueiras wide open in the corner. Folgueiras nailed the 3.
Xaivian Lee drove hard to the basket but tried unsuccessfully to dish the ball to Thomas Haugh, and the Gators didn’t even get a final shot.
“I felt he stepped up, maybe I could have shot a floater or pull up or something,” Lee said. “I was going pretty fast, and I thought I had time for the dunk in, but I…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/defending-champion-florida-eliminated-march-033209371.html
Author : ROB MAADDI
Publish date : 2026-03-23 03:32:00
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