Iowa’s buzzer shocker
Iowa stunned Florida on a Folgueiras buzzer‑beater to advance in March Madness — an instant tournament classic and one of the bracket’s headline upsets this round (x.com) (sportingnews.com). The Sweet 16 slate also features rare power‑conference dominance: nine teams returned from last year’s Sweet 16, and traditional blue‑bloods like Kansas and Kentucky are absent this time. (fayobserver.com).
Alvaro Folgueiras finished with 14 points, Bennett Stirtz had 13 and Tavion Banks led Iowa with 20 points in the game’s box score. (espn.co.uk) The victory sent Iowa to its first Sweet 16 since 1999, ending a 27-year drought for the program. (hawkeyesports.com) ESPN Research identified the result as only Iowa’s second-ever win over a No. 1 seed since the NCAA began seeding in 1979, the program’s other coming against Syracuse in the 1980 regional semifinals. (espn.com) Florida closed the season 27-8 and received 21 points from Alex Condon, 19 from Haugh and 17 from Xaivian Lee, and a midgame scuffle between Condon and Folgueiras resulted in technical fouls. (espn.co.uk) First-year head coach Ben McCollum now leads a 23-12 Hawkeyes team into the Sweet 16, where they’re scheduled to play No. 4 Nebraska in Houston on Thursday, March 26 (tip — 7:30 p.m. ET on TBS). (hawkeyesports.com) Nebraska enters that matchup fresh off its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, a 76-47 victory over Troy in which Pryce Sandfort scored 23 points and made seven 3‑pointers to help the Cornhuskers (27-6) advance. (nba.com)
