TAMPA, Fla. – After a thriller game between the 9-seed and the 1-seed, the Iowa men’s basketball team is heading to its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1999 with the 73-72 victory over top-seeded Florida on Sunday.
With Florida leading, 72-70, with eight seconds left, Bennett Stirtz took the inbounds pass on the run and passed it ahead to a wide open Alvaro Folgueiras in the corner for the three with 4.5 seconds left for a one-point lead. The Gators failed to get a shot up at the buzzer as the Hawkeyes walked away victorious.
Tavion Banks paced the team with 20 points and six rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Folgueiras had 14 points, including his game-winning shot, and five rebounds. Stirtz followed with 13 points, five assists, and five rebounds, and Cooper Koch had 12 points on four made threes.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 13-2 run to open the second half, giving it its largest lead of the night, 51-39, at the 14:11 mark. Over time, the Gators chomped at it, stealing back the lead with 7:04 left. Four more lead changes took place by the 3:04 mark, where Florida held a 67-66 lead.
Florida stars Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon gave their team a three-point advantage with 2:42 left. A Banks dunk and Xaivian Lee layup offset each other, therefore leading to a three-point game with a minute left. After Iowa won the out-0f-bounds challenge call with 1:10 left, Stirtz hit a layup to cut the Gator lead to one.
Gator guard Isaiah Brown went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to give his team a two-point advantage with eight seconds left, and the rest was history.
Iowa found its way of slowing the game down through its first half defense. Florida shot 37 percent form the floor, hitting 10 of its 27 attempts, with Thomas Haugh, the Gators’ leading scorer, having no made shots on four attempts through the first 20 minutes. Xaivian Lee paced the team at the break with 10 points – seven of those coming in the first four minutes.
Florida boasts one of the fastest-paced offenses in the country, though Iowa limited it to just two fast break points at the time. The Hawkeyes also had a 18-14 advantage on the glass against the nation’s leading rebounding team, in-large part due to its collective effort on the glass. Four Hawkeyes had at least three rebounds, including Stirtz.
The star guard’s six first half points was third on the team behind Banks’ 14 points and Folgueiras’ seven points. Banks shot 5-of-8 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line in 15 first half minutes. On top of that, he drew four shooting fouls on Florida’s bigs, one being an and-one opportunity that the missed. Iowa secured the offensive board, and Sage hit a layup for the 23-13 lead at the 8:11 mark.
Banks’ and-one opportunity came after a scuffle between Folgueiras and Florida’s Alex Condon. The two were wrestling over a rebound, and Condon pulled Folgueiras to the ground with force. The Spanish big took offense and appeared to throw a punch. After a lengthy review by officials, double technicals were assessed and there were no ejections.
From 16:16 to 4:50, the Gators went 1-of-13 from the field and finished the half hitting four of its last eight shots. It’s 18-10 run cut the Iowa lead down to two, 33-31, by halftime. Both teams combined for 4-of-22 from three, with Iowa hitting only one of 11 deep attempts.
