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Prairie View A&M drops from NCAA tournament in loss to Florida Gators

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Published  March 20, 2026 10:50pm CDT
Texas
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TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 20: Lance Williams #12 of the Prairie View A&M Panthers drives on Boogie Fland #0 of the Florida Gators during the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Benchmark International Arena on March 20, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • Prairie View A&M was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by No. 1 Florida.
    • The Panthers fell behind early and couldn’t recover after a lopsided first half.
    • Florida advances to face Iowa in the second round.

TAMPA, Fla. - Prairie View A&M is out of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament after their defeat by Florida on Friday.

The Panthers couldn't keep up with the Gators in the first-round game in Tampa, Florida, losing with a final score of 55-114.

No. 16 Prairie View was down 21-60 to top-ranked Florida by the end of the first half, and never managed to bring it back during the second half.

The Gators' dominance was apparent in statistics, with a 64% rate of field goals, a 45% rate of three-pointers and a 78% rate of free throws.

This was Prairie View's third appearance in the tournament.

Key players for Prairie View A&M

  • Guard Tai'Reon Joseph scored 16 points and hit 5 of his field goals.
  • Forward Hassane Diallo scored 8 points and got eight rebounds.
  • Forward Cory Wells scored six points.

What it means

With the loss, Prairie View A&M drops from the tournament, and the Gators are set to face Iowa in a second round game Sunday. 

The Source: Information in this story came from the NCAA's March Madness Live website.

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