TAMPA − The University of Florida men’s basketball team rolled to a record-setting 114-56 win over Prairie View A&M before an orange-and-blue clad, pro-Gator crowd at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa on Friday, March 20.
The Gators’ March Madness run is in full gear as the Gators have advanced to the Round of 32.
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Top-seeded UF (27-7) will now face No. 9 Iowa on Sunday, March 22, at Benchmark International Arena. The Hawkeyes defeated No. 8 Clemson 67-61 after Bennett Stirtz led Iowa with a team-high 16 points. Entering the tournament, Iowa had lost four of its last five games. Iowa’s Kael Combs also recorded 15 points, while Alvaro Folgueiras added 14 points.
Florida Gators basketball roll to historic win
For the Gators, as they began to pull away in the first half against overmatched No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M, an exasperated PVAMU coach Byron Smith was asked during an in-game, TNT interview what he could do to stop UF’s run.
“We need some help from the Lord,” Smith responded.
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On this night, there was no divine intervention, just inside basket after inside basket as the Florida Gators rolled. Florida set a Men’s NCAA Tournament record for margin of victory for a No. 1 seed vs. No. 16 seed (59 points) and a program record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament game.
Florida went on an early 18-0 run to take a 33-15 lead, then followed it up with runs of 10-0 and 17-0 later in the first half to take a 60-21 lead into halftime.
“We have the ability to go on some runs, and we’re at our best when we do that,” Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said after the game. “I have not been a part of a team that’s put three together like that in a half. As I said, I thought our guys did a great job of staying mentally focused, even when we got a big lead, and playing the right way.”
Florida basketball gets its mojo back in time for tournament
Coming off a shaky win over Kentucky, followed by a blowout loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament in Nashville last week, Florida appeared to get its mojo back. After turning the ball over a combined 32 times in both SEC Tournament games, Florida was crisp and efficient, with 29 assists to just seven turnovers against PVAMU.
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“That wasn’t us,” Florida center Rueben Chinyelu said of UF’s SEC Tournament performance. “We didn’t value the ball. We didn’t take care of the ball. That’s what you get when you don’t take care of stuff like that …
“Just knowing that in order to proceed to the next round, you have to fight for the game, which is to our advantage, taking care of the ball, playing with each other and just making good decisions.”
Florida basketball makes statement: It’s a team to beat in March Madness
Florida was well aware how No. 1 seed Duke struggled with No. 16 Siena before pulling away to win 71-65 in its opening NCAA Tournament game on March 19. It didn’t want to have to sweat things out in the second half.
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“We knew we were good coming out here,” said Florida point guard Boogie Fland, who led seven scorers in double figures with 16 points. “We saw the couple games before us, the 1-16, so to set that record I felt like it was big and a statement to the world for sure.”
Golden said it came down to Florida re-establishing its identity.
“We knew what we had to get back to doing,” Golden said. “We are at our best when our identity is being a really gritty defensive team that cleans up the glass and gets out in transition. And when we do that, we’re going to be tough to beat. We were able to do that tonight.”
Florida even re-found its shooting touch from the perimeter, going 10-for-22 from 3-point range after a combined 8-for-37 shooting performance in the SEC Tournament. The Gators began emptying the bench at the 10-minute mark of the second half and didn’t let up, as freshmen C.J. Ingram and Alex Lloyd gained valuable experience. The bucket by 7-foot-9 walk on center Olivier Rioux late was the coup de gras of a festive evening.
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You play for seeding during the regular season. It will get tougher, beginning Sunday, March 22, against 9-seed Iowa (7:10 p.m., TBS) and All-Big Ten point guard Bennett Stirtz. But Florida will enter the matchup with renewed confidence.
“We played with great intent tonight,” Golden said. “When we do that, we’re pretty tough.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Gators make March Madness statement
