Florida basketball vs Prairie View Panthers March Madness live blog

Handlogten got a tip-in dunk, and Ingram got a tip-in layup. Olivier Rioux got up after Kovatchev banked in a three, and the place erupted. He got a few chances and finally dunked it off an offensive rebound. Prairie View got a few garbage-time buckets, but Ingram’s final three-pointer made sure it was a record-breaking 59-point win for Florida — the largest margin between a 1 and 16 seed in history. It’s the second-largest margin of victory in tournament history.

Alex Kovatchev came in for Lee, and then it became a foul fest. Three straight possessions ended with free throws. Ingram hit one of two and Mikic hit both of his, while Prairie View went 4-for-4. Handlogten got an easy two to bring Florida to 100 points, and Kovatchev got his first bucket right after.

The reserves are all checking in for Florida. Viktor Mikic and CJ Ingram are in. Xaivian Lee is the only starter left. Ingram buried a buzzer-beating long two with his foot on the line. A review confirmed he got it off before the shot clock expired.

Florida went on another run coming out of the timeout. Brown threw down a big dunk, Klavzar nailed a three-pointer and Brown hit a deep ball of his own. A shooting foul on Chinyelu gave Prairie View two points, and then he missed a layup on the other end, leading to a jumper from PV.

The reserves are finding buckets for Florida now. Alex Lloyd drove the lane for a contested layup, and then Chinyelu made another and-one shot. At this point, he’s just bullying the tired, smaller defenders.

Both teams traded points on four consecutive possessions. Handlogten scored all four points for Florida in that stretch. Haugh assisted on both of them, but he took it for himself after Prairie View missed a three-pointer.

Klavzar fouled Lance Williams while shooting, so Prairie View got an easy two points. Florida missed a pair of shots but got offensive rebounds on both. Finally, Condon made the hookshot in the paint, pushing the lead to 46.

Prairie View made two of its first three shots in the second half, which seems small but should be celebrated considering the score. Haugh scored on an alley-oop layup, and Lee hit a three-pointer to push the lead to 40.

The Panthers scored their first point in the paint of the game on a second-chance layup. Condon initially got the block, but Hassan Diallo recovered his own shot for the bucket. Florida responded with a pair of three-pointers, first from Fland and then Lee.

Fland hit both free throws and then everyone went cold for a couple of possessions. Chinyelu traveled twice on one play but was only called on the second. Then, Chinyelu and Haugh combined for three straight layups on as many possessions. Fland triggered one of those with a steal, and Haugh drew an and-one foul on the third. He made the free throw.

Prairie View missed another three-pointer, and Isaiah Brown dunked hit home for point No. 60 of the half. It’s Florida’s best scoring first half of the season, and the Gators lead by 39. Florida ended the half on a 17-0 run.

Prairie View broke Florida’s run with a pair of free throws and then hit its first two-pointer of the game after Handlogten threw the ball out of bounds trying to get it to Condon. Boogie Fland responded with a corner three on the other end, and Handlogten tipped in a missed layup from Haugh.

Lee hit a three-pointer after Prairie View turned it over, and Fland hit a mid-range jumper that he created his own separation on. The Panthers hit a stepback to cross the 20-point threshold, but a foul on the other end gave Condon a pair of free throws. He hit both.

Klavzar hit a three-pointer of his own. Florida’s backcourt is 3-for-6 from deep, with all three of its primary guards having hit one. Wells couldn’t convert the deep ball for Prairie View, and Klavzar found Fland driving the lane to draw a shooting foul.

Chinyelu made the and-one free throw out of the timeout, and correctly told Todd Golden to challenge an out-of-bounds call that officials said he touched. His way of thanking Golden for that trust was a “I’m bigger than you” layup in the paint.

Prairie View isn’t getting any good looks inside the arc, and they’ve slowed down from distance. Alex Condon converted an and-one, and Chinyelu scored on the fast break to push the lead to 18. Prairie View hasn’t scored in nearly six minutes.

The timeout didn’t do Prairie View much good. Wells ariballed on the first possession, and Chinyelu hit an and-one layup backing down the small defender in the post. Maybe the media timeout will help them.

Prairie View came out of the break playing zone defense, but it didn’t work. First, Klavzar drove in for a layup. Then, Chinyelu backed down the smaller defender off the switch for an easy hook layup, and Haugh made it an 8-0 run with an alley-oop dunk in transition — assisted by Lee.

The Panthers couldn’t get a good shot in, airballing and taking an ill-advised turnaround during the stretch. They called a timeout after the Haugh dunk.

Joseph gave Prairie View its first bucket of the day, a corner three. Fland responded with a short jumper in the paint. Joseph airballed a three-pointer, prompting a bunch of substitutions. Urban Klavzar and Micah Handlogten are in for Lee and Chinyelu. Both put up shots, but neither could get it to fall.

Fland had another easy layup coming off a block by Condon. Cory Wells drained a corner three for Prairie View in the same spot that Joseph did. Condon backed down his defender and made an easy layup. He should have the advantage all night. Dontae Horn responded with another three at the top of the arc. Florida is letting Prairie View get too many looks from deep and it’s kept the game much closer than it should be at 13-12.

Klavzar scored a driving layup to push the lead to three, but Wells tied the game up with… you guessed it, another three-pointer. Haugh made a hookshot to put the Gators back in front, and a lost ball turnover from Prairie View turned into a foul and the first timeout of the game.

Florida won the tip and got a quick bucket from Alex Condon in the paint. Boogie Fland attacked the rim on the next possession after blocking a shot and put Florida up, 4-0. Corey Dunning missed a mid-range jumper for Prairie View, and Xaivian Lee missed a three for Florida on the other end. Rueben Chinyelu grabbed the offensive rebound, but he lost the ball for a turnover.

Both teams traded misses until Thomas Haugh drew a foul driving the lane. He made one of two shots from the line. A bad pass from Tai’reon Joseph went out of bounds, giving the ball back to Florida, and Condon made them pay on the other end with a poster dunk.