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TAMPA − Senior guard Xaivian Lee raced down the court in a last, desperate attempt to save Florida basketball from a surprising early exit in the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament.
With 4.5 seconds left, the Florida Gators still had a chance down 73-72 after Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras sank a 3-pointer to put the Hawkeyes ahead. But Florida wound up not even getting a shot at the rim. Lee thought he had enough time to dish to All-American forward Thomas Haugh under the basket, but Haugh fumbled it away, and No. 9 seed Iowa pulled off a major upset , upsetting No. 1 seed Florida, the defending national champions.
The basketball karma that Florida summoned in four second-half comebacks during its national title run a year ago ran out before a stunned pro-Gator crowd of 14,717 at Benchmark International Arena.
"I'm going to remember this feeling for a while," Florida junior forward Alex Condon said. "I'm just going to use it as motivation. I think it's 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.
"Yeah, we're going to use it for positive to make us better players in our careers."
Iowa took the fight to Florida, and the Gators struggled early to match UF's physicality. The Hawkeyes outscored Florida 32-30 in the paint, a stunning result given UF's size advantage in the frontcourt. Rebounds were even 27-27 and Iowa outscored Florida 7-6 in second chance points.
"They were physically tougher than us in the first half," Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. "And it took a little bit for us to regain our footing and then they got off to a good start in the second half."
Florida appeared poised to pull off another one of its NCAA Tournament comebacks, rallying from down 12 points in the second half (51-39) to take a three-point lead into the closing minutes. Golden went to a token press to speed the game up, and it resulted in Haugh and Condon scoring and getting to the foul line on strong rim runs to the basket.
"Obviously when we started applying some pressure full court, I thought we were able to change the complexion of the game," Golden said.
But Florida couldn't pull away enough for its most glaring issue of the season to show up.
The Gators lacked a go-to scorer in crunch time. Walter Clayton Jr. served that role during UF's national title run, capable of creating and sinking shots when it mattered most. Haugh and Condon tried to fill the role, but when Boogie Fland turned the ball over with 1:10 left, it opened the door for Iowa to begin its late comeback.
Haugh missed a step-back 3-pointer with 35 seconds and fumbled away the Lee pass as time expired. Florida wound up the season 2-5 in games decided by five points or less.
Florida will likely lose Haugh, a junior All-American, to the NBA Draft in the offseason as a projected lottery pick.
The futures of Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu, a surprise non-factor with 0 points, 1 rebound and 4 fouls against Iowa, remain less certain. Condon told the Sun he's "50-50" on his decision to either declare for the NBA Draft to return to UF for his senior season. Chinyelu, who had a program-record 19 double-doubles this season, could opt to return to Florida as a senior with a solid, Name, Image and Likeness deal.
UF's season ended with an SEC regular season championship but fell short of the ultimate hardware all college basketball players covet.
"Proud of my group," Golden said. "I love these guys. They did a great job for us all year, gaining the second 1 seed in a row, and tough one for us to swallow. We'll be thinking about this one for a while."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball unable to overcome slow start, sloppy finish in March Madness loss to Iowa
Continue reading...
With 4.5 seconds left, the Florida Gators still had a chance down 73-72 after Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras sank a 3-pointer to put the Hawkeyes ahead. But Florida wound up not even getting a shot at the rim. Lee thought he had enough time to dish to All-American forward Thomas Haugh under the basket, but Haugh fumbled it away, and No. 9 seed Iowa pulled off a major upset , upsetting No. 1 seed Florida, the defending national champions.
The basketball karma that Florida summoned in four second-half comebacks during its national title run a year ago ran out before a stunned pro-Gator crowd of 14,717 at Benchmark International Arena.
"I'm going to remember this feeling for a while," Florida junior forward Alex Condon said. "I'm just going to use it as motivation. I think it's 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.
"Yeah, we're going to use it for positive to make us better players in our careers."
Iowa took the fight to Florida, and the Gators struggled early to match UF's physicality. The Hawkeyes outscored Florida 32-30 in the paint, a stunning result given UF's size advantage in the frontcourt. Rebounds were even 27-27 and Iowa outscored Florida 7-6 in second chance points.
"They were physically tougher than us in the first half," Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. "And it took a little bit for us to regain our footing and then they got off to a good start in the second half."
Florida basketball mounts another second-half rally, but falls short this time
Florida appeared poised to pull off another one of its NCAA Tournament comebacks, rallying from down 12 points in the second half (51-39) to take a three-point lead into the closing minutes. Golden went to a token press to speed the game up, and it resulted in Haugh and Condon scoring and getting to the foul line on strong rim runs to the basket.
"Obviously when we started applying some pressure full court, I thought we were able to change the complexion of the game," Golden said.
But Florida couldn't pull away enough for its most glaring issue of the season to show up.
The Gators lacked a go-to scorer in crunch time. Walter Clayton Jr. served that role during UF's national title run, capable of creating and sinking shots when it mattered most. Haugh and Condon tried to fill the role, but when Boogie Fland turned the ball over with 1:10 left, it opened the door for Iowa to begin its late comeback.
Haugh missed a step-back 3-pointer with 35 seconds and fumbled away the Lee pass as time expired. Florida wound up the season 2-5 in games decided by five points or less.
Florida will likely lose Haugh, a junior All-American, to the NBA Draft in the offseason as a projected lottery pick.
The futures of Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu, a surprise non-factor with 0 points, 1 rebound and 4 fouls against Iowa, remain less certain. Condon told the Sun he's "50-50" on his decision to either declare for the NBA Draft to return to UF for his senior season. Chinyelu, who had a program-record 19 double-doubles this season, could opt to return to Florida as a senior with a solid, Name, Image and Likeness deal.
UF's season ended with an SEC regular season championship but fell short of the ultimate hardware all college basketball players covet.
"Proud of my group," Golden said. "I love these guys. They did a great job for us all year, gaining the second 1 seed in a row, and tough one for us to swallow. We'll be thinking about this one for a while."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball unable to overcome slow start, sloppy finish in March Madness loss to Iowa
Continue reading...
