03/22/26 08:47:00
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03/22 20:46 CDT Iowa beats No. 1 seed and defending champ Florida in March
Madness on Folgueiras' 3 in final seconds
Iowa beats No. 1 seed and defending champ Florida in March Madness on
Folgueiras' 3 in final seconds
By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) --- Alvaro Folgueiras nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds
remaining and Iowa eliminated defending national champion Florida, sending the
top-seeded Gators home with a 73-72 victory on Sunday in the second round of
the NCAA Tournament.
Under first-year coach Ben McCollum, Iowa reached the Sweet 16 for the first
time since 2015, while Florida (27-8) became the first No. 1 seed to be knocked
out of this year's March Madness.
The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes (23-12) wasted a 12-point lead in the second half but
rallied in the final minutes.
Xaivian Lee's driving layup put Florida ahead 71-68 with under two minutes
left. Bennett Stirtz answered with a floater to cut it to 71-70 with 57 seconds
remaining.
After Thomas Haugh missed a 3-pointer, Stirtz missed a running layup and Isaiah
Brown grabbed the rebound with 8.9 seconds left. Brown made his second free
throw.
But Iowa easily broke Florida's full-court press and Folguerias was wide open
in the corner for his 3. Florida didn't get a shot off before the buzzer, with
Lee's desperate drive ending with a pass that Haugh couldn't handle.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and
coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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