Defending champion Florida eliminated from March Madness by tougher, more physical Iowa team
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — 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 NCAA Tournament with a 73-72 victory 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. “If their plan was to try to finish over our size at the rim, I would live with that any day of the week,” Florida coach Todd Golden said.
“That’s been a really bad formula for teams all year. We’ve been one of the best 2-point field goal defenses in America. We just didn’t to it tonight.
Credit to them. “I 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’s what they saw and they exploited it, then credit to them.