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

Quentin Grimes scored 25 points and VJ Edgecombe added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 126-116 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Salt Lake City.

Trendon Watford added 20 points off the bench for the 76ers (39-32), who won for the fourth time in the last five games. Cameron Payne added 16 points and seven assists off the bench and Adem Bona also scored 16 points for Philadelphia, which played without star Joel Embiid (oblique) for the 12th straight contest.

Ace Bailey had 25 points and seven rebounds and Kennedy Chandler scored a career-best 19 points off the bench for Utah (21-50), which sewed up its third straight 50-loss campaign. Chandler made his team debut after being signed to a 10-day contract due to the Jazz being short on players. Utah suited up eight on Saturday.

Cody Williams and Elijah Harkless scored 15 points apiece and Bez Mbeng had a career-best 13 points for the Jazz, who have lost five of their last six.

Utah shot 40.6% from the field, including a shaky 9 of 40 from 3-point range.

The 76ers, who won two of three on a trip out west, connected on 50% of their attempts and also struggled from deep (6 of 27).

Grimes scored six points during a decisive 12-2 run turned a two-point deficit into a 118-110 lead with 2:35 remaining in the game.

When Utah crept within six, Grimes banked in a short floater to make it 122-114 with 1:36 left and Philadelphia closed it out.

Bailey and Chandler scored 13 points apiece as Utah led 70-64 at halftime. Edgecombe and Grimes each had 12 in the half for Philadelphia.

The 76ers used a 13-2 burst early in the third quarter to take a 77-74 lead on Watford’s basket with 7:26 left in the third quarter.

Edgecombe later buried a tiebreaking 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 95-92 lead with 41.9 seconds left in the period.

The 76ers took a 95-94 edge into the fourth quarter and later led by four before Utah went on a 10-4 run. John Konchar’s three-point play gave the Jazz a 108-106 lead with 6:43 to play.

–Field Level Media

PORTLAND, Ore. — Darius Acuff Jr. had 36 points, Meleek Thomas added 19, and fourth-seeded Arkansas burst 12th-seeded High Point’s tournament bubble, pulling away late for a 94-88 victory over the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament West Region on Saturday.

Acuff scored nine of the Razorbacks’ last 11 points as they broke from a tie at 83-83 in the final three minutes to overcome a 30-point performance from High Point guard Rob Martin.

Acuff had two layups and a 3-pointer in the next two minutes for a 90-83 lead, and High Point never was closer than four.

Billy Richmond III had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Malique Ewin had 14 points and 12 boards for the Razorbacks (28-8), who have won seven in a row and nine of 10. Ewin’s two free throws with 44.4 seconds made it 92-85.

Cam’Ron Fletcher had 25 points and was two rebounds short of a third straight double-double and Terry Anderson had 15 points for High Point (31-5), which had a 15-game winning streak broken after posting the first NCAA Tournament win in school history Thursday.

Panthers Game 1 hero Chase Johnston, whose layup beat Wisconsin, had nine points on 3 of 8 shooting from distance.

Acuff was 11 of 22 from the field and made 11 of 13 free throws. He had six assists.

The Razorbacks, who have advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of coach John Calipari’s two seasons, will meet the winner of Sunday’s Arizona-Utah State game in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday.

Martin was one short of his career scoring high and had five assists before fouling out late.

Martin, Fletcher and Johnston had three 3-pointers apiece. Johnston has made 72 field goals this season, 71 of them 3s.

Johnston turned down a layup and drifted outside for his second three of the first half to give High Point a short-lived 42-41 lead with 17 seconds left half. Acuff followed with two free throws for a 43-42 edge at the half.

Fletcher had 14 points and Martin 12 at halftime for High Point. Acuff led the Razorbacks with 13 points before intermisson.

–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media