No. 1 Florida Leaves No Doubt in Historic NCAA Tournament Opener
TAMPA – Florida didn’t just beat Prairie View A&M on Friday night. It overwhelmed the Panthers in the second-largest margin of victory in program history.
The No. 1 Florida Gators (27-7) sent No. 16 Prairie View (19-18) home in a crushing 114-55 defeat in front of an all-Gators crowd at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa. The Gators will prepare to face No. 9 Iowa on Sunday at Benchmark International Arena. Iowa defeated Clemson earlier Friday evening, 67-61.
“We weren’t settling and I thought we played with great purpose all night,” Gators coach Todd Golden said. “I was really proud of our guys that came in off the bench in the last 10 minutes. They really kept us in our offense, and were solid defensively. So collectively, it was a really good effort.”
The top seed in the South Region dominated the Panthers in every category. In the teams’ only previous meeting, Florida won 94-33, and Friday’s matchup played out similarly.
With 7:51 left in the first half, Prairie View A&M coach Byron Smith was asked how to handle Florida’s 18-0 run, the second-longest of the season for the Gators.
“We’re going to need some help from the Lord, they’re really good,” Smith said.
Loading ...Seven players scored in double figures for the Gators, who shot 64% (45 of 70) from the field and 45% from beyond the arc (10 of 22). Boogie Fland led the Gators with 16 points, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, including two 3-pointers. Florida won the rebounding advantage 54-20.
“When we are at our best, when our identity is being a really greedy defensive team that cleans up the glass and gets out of transition, and when we do that, we’re going to be tough to beat,” Golden said. “We were able to do that tonight.”
The Panthers entered the game riding an improbable surge, rebounding from a 9-16 record to start to win five of their final six regular-season games and capture the SWAC Tournament title as an No. 8 seed. The run was fueled by Dontae Horne, who ranks third in the nation in scoring at 26.4 points per game, behind AJ Dybantsa and Dominique Daniels Jr. On Friday, Florida’s suffocating defense held Horne to just 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting Friday.
By the first media timeout, Florida held just a two-point lead as the Panthers poured in 15 points behind five consecutive three-pointers. In contrast, all 17 of Florida’s points came in the paint.
The hot shooting for the Panthers didn’t last, as the Gators delivered their most dominant half of the season. Florida closed the half on a 45-6 run to take a 60-21 lead into the break — its highest-scoring first half of the season. The margin also tied for the second-largest halftime lead in tournament history. Prairie View A&M had no answer inside. Florida piled up 38 points in the paint while holding the Panthers scoreless inside until three minutes into the second half.
Florida entered Friday’s game after falling last Saturday to Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinals, 91-74. After shooting 29% from beyond the arc and 46% from the field nearly a week ago, the NCAA Tournament first-round game against Prairie View looked nothing like the Vanderbilt loss.
“Our guys were really attentive at practice. They did a really good job of focusing on the areas that we, as a staff, thought that we needed to improve upon,” Golden said.
In the first half, the Gators caught fire early, hitting 75% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. Four players reached double figures before halftime, led by Fland’s perfect 5-for-5, 13-point performance. Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu each added 11, with Chinyelu also grabbing nine rebounds, while Thomas Haugh chipped in 10.
Florida dominated the glass, outrebounding Prairie View A&M 25-7, and missed just eight shots in the half.
The second half unfolded much like the first. With 7:30 remaining, chants of “We want Ollie (Rioux)” echoed through the arena, and Golden turned to his bench, subbing out the starters with seven minutes left.
One of those reserves, CJ Ingram, buried a buzzer-beating three as the shot clock expired, a fitting snapshot of how the night unfolded.
Rioux checked into the game with two minutes remaining and got a slam off an offensive rebound as the Florida bench exploded. When Rioux checked in, Prairie View’s Hassane Diallo stood in awe, looking up at the 7-foot-9 center towering over him.
“I do whatever I can to make sure that everyone gets to see that moment. Just seeing him (Rouix) step up there, dump the ball and make points,” Chinyelu said. “Everyone enjoyed it.”
This game marked the third time the Gators opened NCAA Tournament play in Tampa, previously as a No. 2 seed each time. Florida defeated UCSB and UCLA in 2011 and downed Sam Houston State in 2003 before losing to Michigan State in the second round.
Florida has earned a No. 1 seed in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. Prior to 2025 and 2026, UF was also a No. 1 seed in 2007 and 2014, as Golden and Billy Donovan have now each led the Gators to two No. 1 seeds.
Category: College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
