(Tampa, FL) — There will be a new national champion in the men’s NCAA Tournament and it was the Iowa Hawkeyes who made it possible. Alvaro Folgueiras hit the game winning three pointer with 4.5 seconds left as Iowa stunned Florida 73-72 on Sunday night in the 2nd round.
Iowa led by as much as 12 in the game but the Gators came storming back and led 69-66 with 2:42 remaining. After a timeout, Tavion Banks got it inside for a dunk to cut the lead to one but Xavian Lee answered quickly for Florida with a driving lay-up to lead 71-68 with 1:58 to go. Boogie Fland for the Gators lost the ball inside and on an Iowa coach’s challenge it was ruled he tipped it out of bounds. Iowa was able to convert a Bennett Stirtz jumper to cut the lead to one with 57 seconds left.
On the other end, Thomas Haugh for Florida missed two threes in a row and Cooper Koch got the rebound. Stirtz, however, missed a shot in the lane with 11 seconds left. Isaiah Brown got the rebound for the Gators and he was fouled. Brown only made one of two free throws so Iowa trailed 72-70. After a Gator timeout, Iowa got the inbounds to Stirtz who raced into the front court away from the pressure and found Folgueiras in the corner who hit the game winning shot.
After the officials checked the replay to see that there were 4.5 seconds left, Lee drove the length of the court and went underneath the basket and tried to dish the ball but Florida did not get time to even get a shot off.
Folgueiras was the hero finishing with 14 points, including 2 of 4 on his threes and added 5 rebounds. The 6’10’ Junior is from Malaga, Spain and is a transfer from Robert Morris.
Iowa (23-12) won despite an off night for Stirtz who did have 13 points but was 0 of 9 from three point land. Cooper Koch responded by going 4 of 6 on his threes and finished with 12 points.
Florida (27-8) leads the nation in rebounding but the Hawkeyes were able to stay event with the Gators on the glass, earning a tie at 27-27. Tavion Banks had a huge game for Iowa with 20 points and 6 rebounds. The Hawkeyes had the edge on points in the paint 32-30.
The Gators were led by Alex Condon with 21 points, Haugh had 19 points and Lee added 17.
Iowa makes it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 which was the last season under Head Coach Tom Davis. Iowa had not won a tournament game since 2021 before Friday’s win over Clemson.
Ben McCollum continues to show his post-season magic who won four Division II national championships at NW Missouri St. and coached Drake last year to a first round upset win over Missouri.
Iowa will face Nebraska in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 26, time TBA. The two teams split their regular season meetings — Iowa won 57-52 in Iowa City on February 17 and the Huskers won the rematch in Lincoln 84-75 in OT on March 8.
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