Florida basketball stunned by Iowa in March Madness Round 2 upset

Florida basketball was stunned by Iowa, ending its hopes to repeat as national champions in the Men's NCAA Tourrnament.

There will be no repeat champion in men’s college basketball.

No. 1 seed Florida has been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, losing to No. 9 seed Iowa 73-72 in the second round matchup and sending the Gators home early.

The Hawkeyes did it in stunning fashion: down two points with eight seconds left, Bennett Stirtz drove down the court and found a wide open Alvaro Folgueiras for a go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds left. Florida was unable to respond with its last chance.

The defending champions came into the Sunday, March 22 matchup fresh off their massive blowout victory of No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M in the first round, scoring a tournament high 114 points in the win. Two days later, the Gators looked nothing like what made them a top seed.

Iowa came out swinging out of the gates, turning the game into a physical battle that had a few heated moments in its favor. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 10-point lead midway through the first half and Florida was forced to play catch up the majority of the final 20 minutes, trailing by as much as 12 points in the second half.