Florida basketball coach Todd Golden and the first-seeded Gators suffered a stunning loss Sunday night against Iowa, and the upset might linger for quite some time in Gainesville.

After the 73-72 loss, Golden addressed the disappointing result, which ended Florida's repeat national championship bid.

“Obviously, a disappointing result for us tonight,” Golden said. “Credit to Iowa, I thought they played well, especially in the first half. Had us on our heels a little bit, and I thought they were physically tougher than us in the first half, and [it] took a little bit for us to regain our footing. Then they got off to a good start in the second half. Really proud of our guys and the way we fought, obviously, came back and took the lead… and just did a poor job executing on both ends in the last two minutes. I thought, obviously, on the last play we wanted to take a foul to prevent them from getting off a three, and they got away from us, we weren't able to take it, and they knocked it down. So credit to them for that.

“Just a tough way to go out, but really proud of my group. I love these guys; they did a great job for us all year, gaining a second one-seed in a row. Tough one for us to swallow, and we'll be thinking of this one for a while.”

Article Continues Below

In the last 10 seconds of the game, Florida allowed a go-ahead Alvaro Folgueiras 3-pointer, and after a Hawkeyes timeout, could not get off a final, potentially game-winning shot.

The Gators, who beat Houston in last year's national title game, finished this season 27-8 and with two losses in their final three games. Florida had won 12 straight before a loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament.