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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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Luke Kennard's last-second shot beats Magic; Lakers' win streak at 9

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando MagicMar 21, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard (10) reacts after hitting a game winning basket at the buzzer against the Orlando Magic in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Luke Kennard drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining on Saturday to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-104 victory over the host Orlando Magic.

Trailing by two with 2.6 seconds left, Marcus Smart inbounded a pass to a wide-open Kennard, with the Lakers’ sharpshooter hitting his third 3-pointer of the game and clinching the team’s ninth straight win.

Los Angeles (46-25) was led by Luka Doncic’s 33 points and eight assists, while Austin Reaves had 26 points and Kennard had 13. LeBron James scored 12 points and passed Robert Parish for most games played in NBA history with 1,612.

Orlando (38-32) was paced by Paolo Banchero’s 16 points and Jalen Suggs’ 14. Wendell Carter Jr. and Jevon Carter added 13 apiece for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight.

Trailing by four in the third quarter, Los Angeles’ 12-0 run was capped with James’ layup to give the visitors a 78-70 edge.

From there, Orlando finished the third on a 17-4 run, holding the Lakers to just one made field goal across the final six minutes of the quarter.

After falling behind by seven to start the fourth, Los Angeles went on a 10-2 run — which included Reaves’ six points — to take a 92-91 advantage with 6:31 left.

James’ layup cut the Lakers’ deficit to a point at the 2:02 mark, before Banchero’s basket gave Orlando a 100-97 lead. Doncic and Carter then traded jumpers on the team’s subsequent possessions.

Banchero then hit two free throws to push the Magic’s lead to five with 50 seconds remaining.

After Reaves’ layup, the Lakers forced an Orlando miss on the other end. Reaves then missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Deandre Ayton got the offensive rebound and was fouled, splitting the free throws to leave the Lakers’ deficit at two.

Suggs then threw the ball away for an Orlando turnover with 4.1 seconds left, leading to Kennard’s game-winner.

After setting the new record, James’ fast-break dunk helped Los Angeles grab an early 6-0 lead.

Doncic’s fadeaway jumper gave the Lakers their first double-digit lead at 30-20. The margin grew to 14 on Reaves’ dunk, before Orlando finished the opening quarter on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit in half.

The run continued into the second quarter as the Magic answered Reaves’ floater with a 13-0 run, stamped with Tristan da Silva’s floater to put Orlando ahead by six.

After Suggs’ stepback trey, Reaves beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper, trimming the Lakers’ halftime deficit to 65-62.

–Field Level Media

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Senators continue playoff push with resilient win over Maple Leafs

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa SenatorsMar 21, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence (10) lines up a shot past Toronto Maple Leafs center Bo Groulx (29) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images

The Ottawa Senators did themselves a world of good in the playoff picture, withstanding a late push to top the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Saturday night.

Defensemen Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence led the way for the Senators (36-24-9, 81 points) with two assists each. Linus Ullmark turned away 12 of 14 shots for Ottawa, which has won four of its last five.

Rookie Easton Cowan tallied a goal and an assist for the floundering Maple Leafs (29-29-13, 71 points). Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll finished with 38 saves when he was forced to man the posts for the second night in a row after Anthony Stolarz was hit in the throat by a puck during pregame warmups.

Tim Stutzle opened the scoring late in the first period on the man advantage, walking the puck into the right faceoff circle and sniping it under the arm of Woll. It was his first power-play marker since the return from the Olympic break.

Claude Giroux extended Ottawa’s lead at 9:09 of the second period, pouncing on Kleven’s low shot from the point to flip the puck up and over the pad of Woll. The goal snapped the 38-year-old’s 13-game scoring slump.

Deadline acquisition Warren Foegele made it 3-0 when he pounced on an ill-advised pass by Toronto in its defensive zone. Foegele’s soft shot deflected off Simon Benoit and into the net for his fourth tally in eight games with the Senators.

John Tavares responded with one of the Leafs’ few creative sequences on the night, trading puck possession with linemate Cowan and beating Ullmark blocker side for his 25th goal of the season.

The Senators outshot the Leafs 19-5 in a dominant middle-frame showing. Toronto has now been outshot in eight consecutive games.

The Leafs made it interesting early in the third. Cowan scored 4:52 into the period when he scored on a rebound of a Benoit shot.

But Michael Amadio quickly quashed any hope of a comeback with a goal less than five minutes later. Ridly Greig extended Ottawa’s lead back to three with 6:49 left, putting the game to rest.

The Senators sustained another injury to their defense when Dennis Gilbert left the game after taking a hard hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson late in the third.

The Leafs were without defenseman Morgan Rielly, who aggravated a lower-body injury Friday against Carolina.

–Field Level Media

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Achol Akot stars as Oklahoma State beats Princeton (Sacramento 2)

NCAA Womens Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Princeton at Oklahoma StateMar 21, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys forward Achol Akot (11) defends Princeton Tigers guard Fadima Tall (5) in the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Achol Akot poured in a season-high 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as eighth-seeded Oklahoma State rolled past ninth-seeded Princeton, 82-68, at Los Angeles.

Oklahoma State (24-9) will face the California Baptist-UCLA winner in Monday’s second round after shooting 52.5% from the field in the opening round.

Jaydn Wooten came off the bench for 18 points, Micah Gray posted 16 points and Haleigh Timmer added 10 points for the Cowgirls, who led 48-33 at halftime.

Madison St. Rose had 17 points and Ashley Chea and Skye Belker both had 14 points for ninth-seeded Princeton (26-4). Olivia Hutcherson added 10 points, but the Tigers didn’t have enough strength in the lane to contend with the Cowgirls.

Princeton got within 61-53 by the end of the third quarter and Belker’s 3-pointer supplied the first points of the fourth quarter. Wooten responded with two baskets to ignite a 9-0 run that helped Oklahoma State take its edge to 72-58.

A 35-26 rebounding edge for Oklahoma State included 11 offensive boards.

Akot entered the game averaging less than 12 points per game.

–Field Level Media

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