Florida routs Prairie View A&M in record-setting night in NCAA opening round

Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel on Mar 21, 2026

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TAMPA — Florida opened its national title defense looking like a team capable of repeating.

The top-seeded Gators coasted past Prairie View, 114-55, Friday night, putting last weekend’s SEC Tournament no-show behind them while making a statement on the sport’s biggest stage at the expense of an exhausted, outmanned opponent.

Playing their sixth game in 11 days, the No. 16 Panthers (19-18) put up an early fight as 33.5-point underdog, the largest point spread in the past 27 NCAA Tournaments. Prairie View hit five 3-pointers to tie the game 15-15.

But Todd Golden’s Gators clamped down on defense to hold the Panthers without a field goal for nearly six minutes while Florida (27-7) went on an 18-0 run, featuring nine points by 6-foot-10, 265-pound center Rueben Chinyelu, en route to the highest point total in an NCAA Tournament game by the Gators.

With only one key player taller than 6-foot-7, Prairie View was no match for Chinyelu and Co. inside as Florida outscored the Panthers 38-0 in the paint and shot 75% from the field to build a 60-21 halftime lead — the Gators’ largest halftime lead in an NCAA Tournament game.

Point guard Boogie Fland led seven double-figure scorers with 16 points while shooting 6 of 6 from the field. Chinyelu finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in just 20 minutes for his 19th double-double. Micah Handlogton, a 7-foot-1 reserve, came off the bench to score 10 points and grab nine rebounds. Florida finished with a season-high 29 assists.

Early in his career, Prairie View’s Bryon Smith coached the Harlem Globetrotters (2002 to 2003). On Friday night, Smith and the Panthers played the part of the Washington Generals to delight of pro-Gators crowd at Benchmark International Arena, just 130 miles from Gainesville down Interstate-75.

One of the night’s biggest roars came when 7-foot-9 redshirt freshman Olivier Rioux entered the game with 1:54 to go and the Gators leading 109-47. Rioux responded with a dunk with 1:12 remaining.

A 3-pointer by freshman CJ Ingram capped the record-setting night.

Many fans were clad in orange and blue and cheered the Gators’ ninth straight NCAA Tournament win in Florida since a 2003 loss to Michigan State in St. Petersburg. Florida aims to make it 10 straight in the Sunshine State Sunday against Iowa for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Houston.

The No. 9 Hawkeyes (22-12) held on for a 67-61 win against Clemson before the Gators took the court determined to get back to their winning ways after their worst loss of the season.

A 91-74 flop against Vanderbilt last Saturday during the SEC Tournament served as a reality check for a Florida team beating opponents by an average of 20 points during a 12-game winning streak.

Florida’s performance against Prairie View was the kind of drubbing that defined their last-season surge and eluded them in last year’s national title run. The 2025 champions coasted past Norfolk State during the first round, but need second-half comebacks in four of their next five games to capture the school’s third national title.

The Gators’ path will get much tougher after Prairie View.

The Panthers reached Friday’s game with a 67-55 win against Lehigh Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, and then headed south to Florida’s west coast for its sixth game in 11 days, beginning with the opening round of the SWAC Tournament March 10 that began a four-game run to the title and the NCAA’s automatic bid.