TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥� 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 with a 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.
鈥淚f their plan was to try to finish over our size at the rim, I would live with that any day of the week,鈥� Florida coach Todd Golden said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a really bad formula for teams all year. We鈥檝e been one of the best 2-point field goal defenses in America. We just didn鈥檛 to it tonight. Credit to them.
鈥淚 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鈥檚 what they saw and they exploited it, then credit to them.鈥�
Tavion Banks, who led Iowa with 20 points, said he knew the Hawkeyes could pull off an upset after reviewing Florida鈥檚 games.
鈥淭he physicality. We鈥檙e in two different conferences; we鈥檙e in the Big Ten, they鈥檙e in the SEC,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I just know we鈥檙e 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.鈥�
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.
Xaivian Lee drove hard to the basket but tried unsuccessfully to dish the ball to Thomas Haugh, and the Gators didn鈥檛 even get a final shot.
鈥淚 felt he stepped up, maybe I could have shot a floater or pull up or something,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚 was going pretty fast, and I thought I had time for the dunk in, but I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Alex Condon led Florida with 21 points, Haugh had 19 and Lee added 17.
Rueben Chinyelu, who broke a school record with his 19th double-double of the season in a 59-point win over Prairie View on Friday night, was held to zero points and one rebound in 19 minutes.
鈥淚n the first half, I was just out of it,鈥� Haugh said. 鈥淚 just feel bad. I didn鈥檛 make any plays, didn鈥檛 do anything to help the team out to win the first half. But yeah, second half I thought we started to get in it. But they鈥檙e a good team, and they just played way harder than us and hit more shots and just made more plays in the end.鈥�
Chinyelu, who had four fouls, only took one shot.
鈥淲e were not strong enough around the rim in the first half, nor were we able to get any deep post catches,鈥� Golden said. 鈥淎 lot of his opportunities around the glass as well, he had no offensive rebounds tonight. So I think a combination of that was the reason he was not as effective as normal.鈥�
Florida finished 27-8, missing an opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16 and continue its quest for another title.
An emotional Haugh stayed down on the floor after failing to handle Lee鈥檚 pass at the end. Lee also was bent down in frustration.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to remember this feeling for a while,鈥� Condon said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just going to use it as motivation. I think it鈥檚 going to make us better players individually just to know what this feeling is like, working hard all year to get into this position as a 1 seed and just letting it get away from us a little bit.鈥�
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