A routine March Madness game quickly turned into an unprecedented stain for the Florida Gators. The No.9 Iowa Hawkeyes handed the No. 1 seed an upset (73-72), to eliminate them from the tournament, leaving head coach Todd Golden outplayed by a first-year Hawkeyes head coach. A controversial play was also put under the microscope just after the first 12 minutes of the game. Now, NBA legend Charles Barkley himself reacted to this tightrope second-round game.

Speaking at a TNT Sports show, Barkley was all praises for Ben McCollum’s Iowa, who dismantled an SEC team like Florida that has looked untouchable for the majority of the season in the March Madness.

“Iowa outplayed them the entire game,” Barkley said. “I give Florida credit. They were scrappy; they got back. But no doubt, Iowa outplayed them for 85% of the game, and that was just a heck of a game.”

Barkley’s assessment hit the bull’s-eye. Despite being the underdog in the game, the Hawkeyes outplayed the Gators in almost every metric on the court. Iowa scored more from the field (51% to Florida’s 50%) while also competing with them toe-to-toe on the glass (27 rebounds each) and maintaining tighter ball security. But at the end of the day, the game wasn’t just about the box score; it was about resilience, something which the Hawkeyes never lacked.

Florida did their best to put pressure on Iowa right after tip-off. With consecutive driving layups, the Gators raced to a 4-point lead in the opening 50 seconds of the game. But as things played out, it was also the last time they had the upper hand on Iowa until the dying minutes of the game. With Tavion Banks and Cooper Koch, the Hawkeyes went on a scoring flurry that left Golden’s team chasing.

Gators showcased grit, as Barkley said, and got the situation under control, making a comeback after the Hawkeyes fumbled away a 12-point lead in the second half. Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh’s hustle saw them sit at a 2-point lead with 00:08 seconds remaining in the game. This is when Alvaro Folgueiras entered the chat, who, in turn, pulled up for a 22-foot jumper on a Bennett Stirtz assist, in what was possibly their final stride towards an offensive play.

It gave the Hawkeyes a decisive 1-point lead and eventually the win over the defending champions of March Madness. The sequence saw the tables turn quickly for Folgueiras after the controversial close call that he survived near the end of the first half. The incident occurred when Figueiras and Florida’s Alex Condon got into a tussle due to a held-ball situation. Condon got the better of Folgueiras for a moment and took him down on the court.

With the ball still in Condon’s hand, Folgueiras, in a heated moment, swung his hand towards the Florida player while both of them fought for possession despite being on the floor. The swing eventually didn’t connect with Condon, but the moment was enough to face an officiating scrutiny. But leave aside any ejections, the officials didn’t even issue any flagrants to either player for their actions; they handed both a technical.

The decision raised eyebrows and even left Todd Golden fuming on the sidelines as he felt that the Folgueiras’ actions deserved a flagrant.  “Yeah, I was told that they threw a punch, but it didn’t connect, so it didn’t go any higher than a flagrant one,” he said later in the press conference. I’m not exactly sure what that means.”

But for the Iowa Hawkeyes, none of it mattered, as they got the last laugh with Folgueiras being the one to put the dagger in at a time when no one expected it, and most never saw it coming.

Todd Golden Comments on the Decisive Final Sequence of the Game

Despite the defeat, the Florida Gators did have some major positives to take away from the game. The pressure was immense after trailing for most of the game. Condon scored an impressive team-high 21 points despite his first-half tussles. Thomas Haugh and Xaivian Lee also combined for 36 points in the game, while also taking care of the boards.

But the entire team lacked an answer for just one sequence of play: Alvaro Folgueiras’ three-pointer in the last seconds of the game. And now, head coach Todd Golden himself has doubled down on how that unfolded at the Benchmark International Arena.

“Obviously, on the last play, we wanted to take a foul to prevent them from getting off a three, and they got away from us,” Golden said. “We weren’t able to take it, and they knocked it down. So credit to them, but that’s just a tough way to go out. But really proud of my group. They did a great job for us all year, getting the second seed in a row. Tough one for us to swallow, and you know, we’ll be thinking about this for a while.”

The game was a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of March Madness, where a single mistake can end a team’s championship hopes. With this win over the Gators, Iowa moves to the Sweet 16, where it faces Nebraska. On the other hand, Golden and the Florida Gators will have to go back to the drawing board, as the National title will now move from Gainesville.

What are your thoughts on this early elimination for the Gators in the March Madness? Do let us know in the comments.