TAMPA, Fla. — The Iowa men's basketball team is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 after upsetting Florida 73-72 on Sunday night.
The No. 9 seed Hawkeyes (23-12, 10-10 Big Ten) led the No. 1 seed Gators (27-8, 16-2 SEC) for more than 26 minutes in the contest but needed a go-ahead three-pointer from Alvaro Folgueiras in the final 10 seconds to get the win.
Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras (7) celebrates after making the game winning shot against Florida with head coach Ben McCollum at the end of the game in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Folgueiras scored 14 points in the win while Tavion Banks led Iowa with 20, Bennett Stirtz added 13 and Cooper Koch scored 12.
Alex Condon led Florida with 21 points, Thomas Haugh added 19 and Xaivian Lee finished with 17.
The Hawkeyes will face No. 4 seed Nebraska (28-6, 15-5 Big Ten) on Thursday in Houston, Texas.
Iowa goes up early on No. 1 seed Florida
H1 11:38 | Iowa 17, Florida 12
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Florida built early leads of 4-0, 9-6 and 11-8, but a 9-1 run from the Hawkeyes has Iowa up 17-12 through the first eight minutes of action.
Florida started 3-of-4 from the field and went 1-of-9 over the next six minutes of action.
Iowa takes 10-point lead as Florida suffers shooting slump
H1 7:50 | Iowa 23, Florida 13
Iowa's 9-1 run turned into a 15-2 run as a Gators' shooting slump extended to more than eight minutes without a field goal.
The run allowed the Hawkeyes to build a 10-point, 23-13 lead.
Banks led Iowa with a game-high eight points through the first 12 minutes of action, including four in the go-ahead run.
Ben McCollum weighs in on Iowa--Florida double technical
With 8:34 remaining in the first half, Folgueiras attempted to secure a defensive rebound. Florida's Condon tried to tie up Folgueiras to force a heldball and sent both players to the ground.
Folgueiras appeared, initially, to throw a punch, but struck the ball and did not contact Condon. A scuffle ensued on the court with both Florida head coach Todd Golden and Iowa head coach Ben McCollum entering the fray to try to remove their players from the altercation.
Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras & Florida's Alex Condon received technical fouls on this play. pic.twitter.com/IKcZiqsPvP
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2026
Ultimately, officials called Class A Technical Fouls on both Condon and Folgueiras after a lengthy review process.
During an in-game interview with TBS sideline reporter AJ Ross, McCollum shared his thoughts on the incident.
"They were just going for the ball, and then everybody got all sensitive," McCollum said. "Their people got sensitive. It was like we're just trying to play ball. It was whatever. We'll compete, we'll fight, we'll see what happens."
Iowa takes lead at the half on Kael Combs last-second floater
HALF | Iowa 33, Florida 31
Florida managed to completely erase Iowa's lead, tying the game at 31 with 35 seconds remaining in the half.
But, Kael Combs managed to connect on a tough floater with eight seconds left to pull ahead 33-31 at the break.
Banks led all players with 14 at the half. Xaivian Lee led the Gators with 10 points.
"We just made it physical," Banks said. "We just responded with physicality. Both teams are very physical. They're a good team. We're a good team. We're a very physical team. It's the tougher team that's going to win. The first half really showed what's going on in the game. The second half is — it's crunch time right now."
Iowa pushes lead back to 12 early in second half
H2 14:13 | Iowa 51, Florida 39
The Hawkeyes scored 11 of the first 17 points in the second half to push their lead back up to a seven-point, 44-37 lead.
Then, Banks and Koch hit back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 13-2 run. Folgueiras added a layup, Stirtz hit a jumper and Koch connected on another three-pointer to grow the lead to 12 and force a Florida timeout.
Iowa takes lead into final 12 minutes of play
H2 10:40 | Iowa 55, Florida 51
Florida put a stop to Iowa's 13-2 run on a three-pointer from Haugh with 13:54 to play. Haugh added three more points over the next minute of play. Haugh's five points started a 12-4 surge for the Gators which cut Iowa's lead to four, 55-51.
Condon scored a pair of free throws and flushed home a dunk to cap the rally.
Florida erases Iowa's lead, goes on top for first time in second half
H2 5:36 | Iowa 61, Florida 65
The Gators continued to surge and stretched their come-from-behind rally to a 26-11 surge to take its first lead since the first five minutes of the game.
A Condon dunk gave Florida the initial lead and a Haugh triple put the Gators back in front after Koch briefly put Iowa back in front.
Iowa down two in waning moments against Florida
H2 0:08 | Iowa 70, Florida 72
A 1-of-2 showing at the free throw line from Florida's Isaiah Brown put the Gators ahead by two with eight seconds left after the teams traded baskets over the final two minutes of play.
Alvaro Folgueiras hits three-pointer to send Iowa to Sweet 16
FINAL | Iowa 73, Florida 72
Out of a timeout, Stirtz caught an inbounds pass on the move and drew two defenders as he approached the three-point line. He dished a pass to Folgueiras in the right corner.
ARE. YOU. JOKING.
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
IOWA LEADS. THIS IS MARCH. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/sNDHTqaGj1
Folgueiras settled his feet behind the three-point line, rose and drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 4.5 seconds to play.
The shot held up as the game-winner and sent the Hawkeyes back to the Sweet 16.
"March is for dreamers," Folgueiras said on TBS. "And, there are no better dreamers than us."
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
