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Fresh off historic blowout, No. 1 Florida takes aim at No. 9 Iowa

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Prarie View A&M at FloridaMar 20, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Florida Gators center Olivier Rioux (32) dunks the ball in the second half against the Prairie View A&M Panthers during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Florida began pursuit of a second straight national championship by trouncing Prairie View A&M by a whopping 59 points, the second-largest winning margin in NCAA Tournament history.

That margin of victory couldn’t have been comforting for Iowa.

The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes take aim at a major upset when they face the top-seeded Gators on Sunday night in a second-round South Region game at Tampa, Fla.

“They’re talented at all five positions for Florida,” Iowa star guard Bennett Stirtz said on Saturday. “Yeah, our hands are going to be full, but we’re going to take full advantage of the opportunity, and to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”

Iowa (22-12) registered a 67-61 first-round victory over eighth-seeded Clemson on Friday for its first NCAA tourney win since 2021. The Gators (27-7) romped 114-55 over Prairie View A&M with only Loyola Chicago’s 111-42 win over Tennessee Tech in 1963 representing a worse beatdown.

In other words, Florida plays a much-faster pace than the Hawkeyes, who are more comfortable in halfcourt sets.

Iowa coach Ben McCollum isn’t paying much attention to whether the game is slowed down or resembles a track meet.

“If it’s slow or fast is irrelevant, it’s just a matter if we can put the ball in the basket more than they do,” McCollum said of the pace. “I don’t think we probably focus on it as much as most people think. I think it just naturally happens.”

Meanwhile, the Gators will have a pro-Florida crowd in Tampa for the second straight game and coach Todd Golden is certainly relishing that aspect.

“It’s a great advantage of finishing where we did and being able to stay close to home and playing in Tampa and something that we definitely don’t take lightly,” Golden said.

Last season, the Gators squeaked out a 77-75 win over two-time defending national champion UConn in the second round. It was one of four victories by six or fewer points in the title run, including a 65-63 victory over Houston to win the national title.

Golden said this season’s Gators are more ready to battle their way through the tournament than last season’s edition.

“I believe we’re more prepared this year, obviously going through last year’s tournament,” Golden said. “Just the ups and downs that we had earlier on in the season. We’ve been able to get through some adversity and get back to playing together, playing the right way, having really good success.

“So, coming into the Tournament, I feel like we’re more comfortable, better prepared. I believe our guys had a great mentality after this week’s practice going into the game (Friday) night and played with great purpose and intent. I expect to try to do that again against a really good Iowa team.”

The Gators were ready for their first game, shooting 64.3% from the field and outrebounding the Panthers 54-20. Seven Florida players scored in double digits.

Florida knows the task will be tougher Sunday. The players are focusing on Stirtz, the honorable mention All-American who was just 4-of-17 shooting while scoring 16 points in Iowa’s win over Clemson.

“Bennett is a great player,” Florida guard Boogie Fland said. “Just got to contain him, no threes, and all team defense.”

McCollum, who is coaching Stirtz for the fourth straight season at a third different school, is expecting a bounce-back from Stirtz.

“They’re paying attention to him pretty heavy and it’s pretty contested,” McCollum said. “I’m not overly concerned with it. Obviously, he’s going to have to be able to score for us to win to a certain level, but he doesn’t need to go have 30 points for us to do that.”

–Field Level Media

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Bruins surge in third, down Red Wings in race for playoff berth

NHL: Boston Bruins at Detroit Red WingsMar 21, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Viktor Arvidsson (71) handles the puck against Detroit Red Wings defenseman Albert Johansson (20) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images

The visiting Boston Bruins scored twice in a 3:20 span in the third period to turn around a one-goal deficit en route to a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings in a crucial matchup between Atlantic Division rivals on Saturday night.

Nikita Zadorov scored the eventual game-winner with 10:18 remaining to lift Boston (39-23-8, 86 points), which improved to 3-0-2 in its last five.

David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm each registered a goal and an assist, Marat Khusnutdinov also scored, Morgan Geekie had three assists and Charlie McAvoy two.

Jeremy Swayman backstopped the victory, making 41 saves.

Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat lit the lamp and John Gibson made 23 saves for Detroit (38-24-8, 84 points), which had been on a 2-0-1 run.

The teams entered Saturday’s game in a tie for the two Eastern Conference wild-card playoff positions, while the Montreal Canadiens held the No. 3 slot in the division by virtue of a better points percentage.

Lindholm netted the game-tying goal for 2-2 at 6:22 of the third period. After Mason Lohrei kept the puck in at the blue line, Geekie fired a cross-ice pass to Lindholm to slot home five-hole on Gibson from the bottom of the left circle.

Aided by another Geekie pass, Zadorov’s winner followed on an off-angle wrister coming down the left wing.

Gibson kick-saved Lukas Reichel’s penalty shot with 6:08 left in regulation to give Detroit some life, but Swayman stood tall in the final minutes and Khusnutdinov scored an empty-netter with 1:52 to go to preserve the win.

Detroit was held without a shot for more than 12 minutes to begin the game, but finished at 10-10 advantage following a scoreless first period. J.T. Compher narrowly missed making it a 1-0 lead before intermission, as his rebound bid slid past Swayman just after the final tenth of a second expired off the clock before intermission.

The hosts officially drew first blood 3:35 into the middle frame. Raymond cashed in on another man-up sequence, burying a one-time goal from the bottom of the left circle off Andrew Copp’s cross-ice feed.

Pastrnak responded with a game-tying, power-play goal at 5:07. The star winger blasted a one-timer from the left side after receiving McAvoy’s feed from the top of the formation.

DeBrincat put the Wings back in front at 4:06 of the second, slipping down to the top of the left circle to slot a high wrister past Swayman.

–Field Level Media

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FC Dallas outlast Houston with late winner in Texas tussle

MLS: Houston Dynamo FC at FC DallasMar 21, 2026; Frisco, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo forward Ezequiel Ponce (10) attempts a bicycle kick as FC Dallas midfielder Ramiro (17) defends during the first half at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Logan Farrington scored twice in the opening 14 minutes, Petar Musa scored a late winner in the 86th minute in a rare appearance off the bench, and FC Dallas earned a 4-3 victory over the 10-man Houston Dynamo on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas.

Musa also helped create the second-half equalizer — an own goal off Houston’s Duane Holmes — after his halftime entrance for Dallas (2-1-2, 8 points), which earned its first win since its season opener on Feb. 21.

Guilherme scored his fourth goal and assisted tallies from Erik Sviatchenko and Lawrence Ennali for Houston (2-2-0, 6 points) in its first road match of the season.

But Sviatchenko was dismissed in the 68th minute for his second booking, becoming the fourth Dynamo player to receive his marching orders this season.

After scoring five times in Dallas’ first four matches, Musa was not listed on the league’s availability report for the weekend yet began the night unexpectedly outside the starting lineup.

And while it worked out well early, by halftime Dallas manager Eric Quill found his side trailing 3-2 and summoned his Croatian striker.

He immediately provided an impact, helping Dallas pull level in the 54th minute.

Herman Johansson took down a bouncing ball on the right flank, then played the ball up the side for Musa to run onto. Musa dribbled into the box and then tried to drag a cross toward the penalty spot, one that caromed off Holmes and over the line.

The goal was originally ruled offside, but was overturned following a video review.

Just under a half-hour later, Musa showed up again on the same right side, this time to finish off Joaquine Valiente’s tantalizing inswinging service at the back post with a one-touch volley after outmuscling his defender.

Guilherme helped turn Houston’s two-goal deficit into a one-goal advantage in the space of four minutes.

In the 29th minute, he intercepted Dallas goalkeeper Michael Collodi’s wayward pass and turned it into a simple finish before the goalkeeper could recover.

In the 31st, his outswinging corner found Sviatchenko at the back post for a clear header Collodi had little chance of saving.

He capped off the remarkable individual stretch in the 33rd when he found Ennali running in behind around the edge of the Dallas back line with a perfect throughball.

–Field Level Media

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LAFC continue unbeaten start with scoreless draw at Austin

MLS: LAFC at Austin FCMar 21, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; LAFC forward Son Heung-Min (7) drives the ball against Austin FC defender Brendan Hines-Ike (4) during the first half at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Los Angeles FC continued its unbeaten and unscored-upon streak to begin the season as it played host Austin FC to a scoreless draw on Saturday.

Both goalkeepers earned clean sheets while saving a combined three shots. LAFC’s Hugo Lloris (two saves) earned his fifth shutout of the campaign and extended his stretch without allowing a goal to 450 minutes while Austin’s Brad Stuver (one save) posted his second clean sheet of the year and the 40th of his MLS career.

LAFC (4-0-1, 13 points) have outscored their opponents 8-0 while earning points in their first five matches of the season and continuing the best start to a season in team history.

Austin FC (1-2-2, 5 points) heads to the year’s first international break on a three-game winless streak.

Los Angeles had the best scoring chances of the game, two of which came in the final minutes. First, Mark Delgado ripped a shot from well outside the box past Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver in the 85th minute that clanged off the crossbar and then out of harm’s way.

A minute later, LAFC’s Son Heung-Min sprinted down the pitch and into the goal mouth before Austin defender Brendan Hines-Ike literally stole the ball off his right foot as Son attempted his shot.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Los Angeles forced Stuver into his only save when Denis Bouanga ripped a shot on net.

Myrto Uzuni had Austin’s final shot on goal four minutes into second-half stoppage time, testing Lloris with a high, twisting shot four minutes which he was forced to leap to bat away. Lloris has now stopped all 16 shots he’s faced this season

LAFC was playing their third game in eight days and was worse for wear, going the entire first half without producing a shot on target while being out-possessed 58%-42% and finishing the opening 45 minutes with a 200-pass discrepancy (368-168).

The Verde didn’t have weariness as an excuse but also did not place a shot on goal in a sluggish first half.

–Field Level Media

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