Gators coach Todd Golden huddles with his team during Saturday's practice.
UF vs Iowa: Pace-of-Play Test of Wills
Sunday, March 22, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. – Three hours before they would play the team's most important game of the season, Carlin Hartman and Jonathan Safir were parked courtside Friday night at Benchmark International Arena for a game that was every bit as important, but in a different way.
Hartman, Florida associate head coach, was zeroed in on Clemson, the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament Southeast Region, while assistant Jonathan Safir was locked on Iowa, the No. 9 seed. The winner would advance to face top-seeded UF, assuming the Gators advanced past 16-seed Prairie View A&M in the session's second game.
That's a lot of speculative work going on, but advanced scouting is a pivotal part of the job this time of year.
"It's a fine line, but you have to put in the same manpower even for a game that may never be played," Safir said.
As it turned out, the provisional game Safir was prepping for was the one that materialized. The Gators (27-7) will face the Hawkeyes (22-12), out of the Big Ten Conference, in Sunday night's second-round game, with a trip to the "Sweet 16" in Houston to the winner.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Before UF annihilated Prairie View 114-55, Iowa played to its trademark and disciplined ways in outlasting Clemson 67-61 in a game the Hawkeyes never trailed, but never quite put away until the final few minutes. That one ended around 9:05 p.m. UF tipped off about 30 minutes later.
It was after midnight when the UF staff returned to the JW Marriott next door to the arena and went all in on sharing intel on Iowa, whose style of play unlike any high-major opponent the Gators have faced this season.
Prep for the match-up actually started after the NCAA Tournament selection show Sunday night. Video coordinator Nolan Crist tasked managers to begin cutting tape of UF's potential first-round (PVA&M defeated Lehigh in a First Four play-in game Wednesday) and second-round foes. Kevin Olsen, director of basketball strategy, had overviews of how the Florida offense would attack the first-weekend teams, while assistant Dave Klatsky, defensive coordinator, did the same on his side of the ball.
Before they were back at the arena for Saturday's media obligations and closed practice, the Gators had a brushstroke of the Hawkeyes, but the information load really started during a film briefing and the 90-minute practice block.
"We know they like to slow the game down, try and control the tempo," UF senior guard Xaivian Lee said. "So, we're going to try to impose our will and play how we do."
Hawkeyes coach Ben McCollum came to Iowa after one season at Drake, which he guided to a 31-4 record and NCAA berth in 2024-25. Before that, McCollum was at Division II Northeast Missouri State, where he won four national championships before making the D1 jump. He stayed at Drake just one season, opting to make the power conference jump to the state's flagship program. McCollum brought five of his players from Drake to Iowa, so the team is ingrained in his methodical, concept-driven system that eats clock and reduces possessions, which is the polar opposite of how Florida wants to play.
"We don't want to play slow," UF backup center Micah Handlogten said. "But if it does happen, we'll try to get set and get good quality defensive possessions and, hopefully, get stops and get out in transition and play like they don't want to play."
It'll be a test of wills, for sure.
Iowa All-Big Ten point guard Bennett Stirtz (14)
And the Hawkeyes will bring a standout point guard to the stare-down.
Iowa's 6-foot-4, 190-pound playmaker Bennett Stirtz played for McCollum one season at NE Missouri, followed him to Drake and was the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, then trailed to Iowa and garnered 2026 first-team All-Big Ten honors after averaging 19.9 points on 48% shooting overall and 37% from the free-throw line, plus 4.4 assists and 37.5 minutes per game.
"He's just a great ball-screen point guard," said Gators coach Todd Golden, who compared Stirtz to a more system-oriented version of Arkansas's Darius Acuff or Alabama's Labaron Philon in the SEC. "They're different types of players in terms of what makes them who they are, but all three of those guys are kind of ball-dominant guards that like to play out of the pick-and-roll."
Added Safir: "He's a high-usage guy and the offense kind of orbits around him. He's their first option, main option and late-clock option. But they have other good players, as well."
The Hawkeyes make defenses work. They rank 361st nationally in pace of play, with only four teams in all of D1 playing slower. That doesn't mean they're playing ineffectively, though. Iowa ranks 29th in offensive efficiency and in the top 10 in field-goal percentage in the final 10 seconds of the shot clock.
"Whatever puts the ball in the basket more than they do," McCollum said Saturday of his scheme. "If it's slow or fast is irrelevant."
The Gators size (Micah Handlogten, right), athleticism (Xaivian Lee, left) and shot-making (everybody) overwhelmed Prairie View in Friday night's 114-55 blowout victory.
Florida, with the nation's No. 6-rated defense and best-rebounding front court in the country, will want to force misses, of course, but boxing out and preventing Iowa from offensive-rebounding – and extending possessions – will be paramount. The Hawkeyes thoroughly frustrated Clemson in that regard Friday. Their 15 offensive rebounds on 32 misses (an offensive-rebound percentage of 47%) led to 16 second-chance points, but just as critically bled the clock in Iowa's favor.
Personnel-wise, the Gators size and athleticism are better situated to dictate the game's tenure and avoid those circumstances, but in a one-and-done tournament anything can happen over a 40-minute game.
"We've got to be able to win no matter what the pace looks like," Golden said.
With there being no "comp" team – certainly not in the SEC – to any opponent the Gators have faced this season, it makes the whirlwind, behind-the-scenes work done over the 42 hours leading up to tip-off all the more critical.
Florida's players have faith in folks doing the prepping.
"Honestly, it feels like we've seen everything this season," sophomore point guard Boogie Fland said. "We've just got to stay on our P's and Q's and execute what they're going to give us."
