Todd Golden shares assessment of Florida’s failed final possession
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With 8.9 seconds remaining in regulation, the Florida Gators held a 72-70 edge over the Iowa Hawkeyes. Despite trailing throughout most of the game, it appeared Todd Golden’s team was going to slide through to the Sweet Sixteen. Then, everything changed.
The Hawkeyes avoided a foul in the backcourt, then hit a corner three-pointer to take a 73-72 lead. This left the Gators just 4.5 seconds to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Unfortunately, they failed to get a shot up, sealing their fate.
Golden spoke on Florida’s final sequence after the game. He was asked about Xaivian Lee’s decision to pass the ball on his drive with so little time remaining. Golden admitted he’d have liked to see Lee shoot the ball instead.
“I would have preferred him to obviously get to the rim on that,” Golden said. “I thought he had a good advantage on the guy that was defending him. His defender was not in legal guarding position, so I feel like… we would have either scored it or got fouled.”
Hindsight is 20/20, of course. So, while Golden feels one way, he’s not blaming Lee for the choice.
“[It’s] a split-second decision. He’s out on the floor. And he obviously played a really good game for us tonight,” Golden continued. “We’ve got to live with the results on that, but I thought he did a good job getting around his guy. I would have loved to have seen him go finish it.”
Lee scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting against Iowa. The Hawkeyes’ win sends them to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. They’ll face their Big Ten rival, the No. 4 seed Nebraska Cornhuskers, on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, TBS/TruTV).
With Florida out, a new college basketball champion will be crowned! Make a prediction on Kalshi!
