Florida played about as perfect a game as one could have hoped for in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament. Their demolition of Prairie View A&M was the second-largest win in NCAA Tournament history and moves them on to the second round on Sunday, where they will have a date against Iowa.
And while Florida’s domination may not have been great for TV ratings, it did give the Gators one small edge heading to Sunday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
Florida extends the bench early in win over Prairie View A&M
As things got out of hand, Todd Golden called off the dogs and basically had all of Florida’s starters out with seven minutes to go. There is a give and take when to pull guys, given that guys still need to be ready and not rusty for Sunday in a one-and-done situation.
Todd Golden touched upon the minutes Florida’s starters got and was pleased with the final result of distribution:
“I thought we were able to balance it really well. We were able to get out to a comfortable lead and it allowed us to keep everybody's minutes under 25, which when you only have a day rest in between, I think is really important. So we should be really fresh on Sunday. We came out of it unscathed. We'll practice tomorrow, but I feel like we're in a really good spot going into Sunday from a health and from a freshness standpoint."
Florida is going to need their legs too against Iowa as the Hawkeyes play a style that forces teams to defend for all 30 seconds of the shot clock. Iowa, meanwhile, had to empty its gas tank against Clemson in a game that was still close all the way to the end.
Sunday’s game is slated to tip off in Tampa at 7:10 PM. At stake is Florida’s second straight trip to the Sweet 16 while Iowa is seeking to make it out of the opening weekend of March Madness for the first time since 1999.