- NCAA. Cooper Flagg has extra motivation in march madness - Who Is Lola Ressler?
- NCAA. Spencer Hubbard and the Duke Blue Devils fans' chant take over the first round of March Madness
The March Madness continues with big upsets and Cinderella stories popping up on a daily basis. Sunday was the latest example, with the Florida Gators eliminating the two-time reigning national champions UConn Huskies.
The No. 1-seed Florida trailed for much of the second half before putting UConn away, 77-75, with an 8-0 run late in the second half. The Huskies kept it close down the stretch by fouling, but the Gators escaped with its first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2017.
Florida committed eight turnovers in the first half but UConn failed to convert the miscues into a point. The Gators led in points off turnovers, 5-0. In the end the Gators outscored UConn 10-4 in points off turnovers despite committed 12 miscues to the Huskies' six.
Frustration takes over at UConn
UConn head coach Dan Hurley was visibly upset after getting eliminated by the Florida Gators and he let the media and everyone else who attended the arena at Raleigh, North Carolina, as he criticized the officials for some calls that he considered were just plain awful.
A video posted online showed Hurley using some heated words with Baylor in the tunnel before the Bears took the court against the Duke Blue Devils. The head coach even dropped some F-bombs. "I hope they don't f*** you like they f***ed us. I hope they don't do that to you, Baylor." he said.
The former national champion also held back tears in a postgame interview with CBS and on the podium. The subject of Hurley's ire appeared to be the officials who oversaw Florida's 77-75 win over UConn, a thriller that was in the balance until the final minute and ended the Huskies hopes for a national championship three-peat.
Maryland is up next for Florida
In the Sweet 16, the Florida Gators (32-4) will face the No. 4-seed Maryland Terrapins (26-8), who beat No. 12-seed Colorado State (26-9) 72-71 in an exciting game that went down to the wire.
The Gators are 2-2 all-time against Maryland, last facing the Terrapins in a 70-68 loss on Dec. 12, 2021. They will need al the offensive power they can get from senior All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. and senior guard Alijah Martin if they want to be part of the Elite Eight.
Florida advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and improved to 12-1 all-time as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This is the Gators 12th trip to the Sweet 16 in program history including the 1987 trip that was later vacated by the NCAA.