TAMPA, Fla. — Down by two points against defending national champion and No. 1 seed Florida, Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras took a pass from guard Bennett Stirtz and drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left that clinched a 73-72 victory Sunday night, sending Benchmark International Arena into an absolute frenzy and the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
It was Iowa’s second win against a No. 1 seed since seeding began in 1979 (versus Syracuse in the 1980 regional semifinals), according to ESPN Research. It also was the first game winner in the final five seconds against a top seed in the tournament since Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater for Villanova versus North Carolina in the 2016 national championship game.
“The play was drawn up for me to get downhill, and then this dude came up to me and he’s like, ‘I’m going to be ready, and I’m going to make it,'” Stirtz said of Folgueiras, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. “That’s what he actually did.”
First-year Hawkeyes coach Ben McCollum was in disbelief.
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“Did you say that?” he asked.
Folgueiras responded, “I did. That was me.”
McCollum replied, “He’s got …”
“Ultra confidence,” Stirtz said.
McCollum added: “Irrational confidence.”
Folgueiras needed it. So did his mother, Beatriz Campos, when she sent him to the United States from Málaga, Spain, to pursue his dreams of playing basketball.
“She sent a 16-year-old kid to America without knowing any English … without anything but dreams and hunger. And this one is for her and my dad. He’s watching up there,” said Folgueiras, whose father died when he was 9.
While the Hawkeyes celebrated on the court, Folgueiras ran into his mother’s arms. It was first time he had seen her since August and the first time she had watched him play a college game in person in two years.
“She told me, ‘I love you,’ 100 times. I said, ‘I love you,’ 100 times back,” Folgueiras said. “It’s super special having my mom here. She’s everything for me. Where would the world be without the moms? She’s super tough. She’s been through a lot of things in life.”
She often worked 14 hours a day to provide for Folgueiras and his brother, Ignacio.
“Sometimes, when I struggle through basketball — and basketball is life — I think of my mom as an example of resilience, and that really inspires me and gives me confidence,” Folgueiras said. “Because she’s not just a fighter; she’s a super special person. I’m so lucky to have her as a mom.”
Campos said through her longtime partner, Mike, “She’s very proud. This is her son. She’s very proud. We came down here from Spain. To watch him play, we never thought we would get into this, and that last point was incredible. It’s her son.”
She stood on the floor and held a sign that read, “YOU ARE THE BEST #7,” with a picture of Folgueiras. Fans took turns helping her hold it. She was just a few feet away from her son when he made his epic shot.
“I think no one really believed in us outside this locker room,” said Stirtz, who tallied 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Two nights prior, Florida cruised to a 114-55 win over Prairie View A&M for the second-largest victory margin in NCAA tournament history. There was concern over how the Hawkeyes would handle Florida’s tempo. But the Hawkeyes led for 66% of the game, were up by as many as 12 points and were the better team in the paint.
Still, it looked like they were about to let the game slip away. Stirtz missed a layup, and Gators guard Isaiah Brown grabbed the rebound then made 1 of 2 free throws after he was fouled, giving Florida a 72-70 lead.
Iowa, though, broke the Gators’ full-court press, and Folgueiras was wide open.
“He caught it in rhythm and buried it and didn’t hit anything but net,” McCollum said. “And it was surreal. Like, ‘Oh my gosh, he just made that.'”
