The Gators and their fans may want to take a big bite out of Alvaro Folgueiras, after the Hawkeyes forward got into a scuffle in the first half, where it appeared he took a swing at Alex Condon while they battled for the ball.
Folgueiras was not kicked out of the game, and he ended up hitting the game-winning basket with 3.9 seconds left in Iowa’s 73-72 win over the defending national champions.
“I didn’t really care who took it. I was more disappointed that they made it,” Gators head coach Todd Golden told reporters afterward. “I wasn’t thinking the loose ball double technical in terms of him being the one that made the shot.”
Whether Folgueiras attempted to punch appeared to be a matter of perspective, depending who you asked about it after the game.
Folgueiras and Condon were battling for a loose ball with 8:35 left in the first half with the two ending up grappling for the ball after Condon tugged and knocked Folgueiras over.
While the two were on the ground, Folgueiras seemed to lift his right arm in a motion to throw a punch and then came down, though, one could argue he was simply trying to knock the ball loose.
Teammates rushed in, as did coaches and the officials were left to sort the whole thing out.
The sequence did not sit well with Florida head coach Todd Golden and Iowa coach Ben McCollum, who jawed at each other.
And when Golden learned it would be a double technical call, he lost it and was captured on video saying, “Are you f–king kidding me? You motherf–ker, man.”
“It was as simple as we were fighting for the ball. We both fall and we kept fighting for the ball,” Folgueiras said. “People kind of overreacted. I didn’t throw any kind of punch and it was just a thing of the game. It was just March Madness, everyone wants to win so bad and they’re a tough team. It’s just something that sometimes happens in basketball, but I have to make sure my intentions are the right ones.”
Condon had said that he wasn’t sure if Folgueiras had hit him during the incident.
Golden said he was told the Iowa player had thrown a punch, “but it didn’t connect, so it didn’t go any higher than a Flagrant 1.”
“I’m not exactly sure what that means and I really still don’t understand why Condo got a technical,” he said. “They’re both fighting for the ball equally. Condo was just stronger and pulled him down to the floor, but they were both grabbing the ball, so it was a confusing play. I’m not really sure how that landed on that result.”
Folgueiras, who scored 14 points, secured the Hawkeyes’ ticket to the Sweet 16 with a corner 3-pointer that helped Iowa become the first team in this year’s Tournament to knock out a No. 1 seed.
