Folgueiras' game-winning triple with four seconds left sent Iowa to its first Sweet 16 since 1999.
Alvaro Folgueiras may never have to purchase alcohol in Iowa City again.
It's been an up-and down 2026 for Iowa basketball's junior forward, but it's safe to say he's having a pretty good Sunday evening.
Trailing 72-70 with only seconds left against the top-seeded and defending national champion Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Hawkeyes needed someone to make a play.
Everyone inside Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida expected Iowa's leading scorer Bennett Stirtz to take the shot. But Stirtz was having an uncharacteristic off-night - going just 5-of-16 from the floor and 0-for-9 from three point range.
Florida pressured the inbounds pass, but Stirtz broke it with ease. He had either Tavion Banks or Folgueiras to throw to on the corner, and he chose the closest man to the play - Folgueiras.
With no hesitation, Folguieras fired and canned the shot.
Iowa fans jumped for joy, but there was still 3.9 seconds left on the clock - later determined to be 4.5 seconds after an official review.
That was still plenty of time for the Gators to get off a good shot for the win, but for the first time in years, March luck was finally on the Hawkeyes' side.
Xaivian Lee was making plays for Florida all night. He got near the rim with ease, but ran into a swarm of black jerseys. Lee tried to shovel the ball to Thomas Haugh, but the red lights flashed on the backboard.
Game over.
Iowa is off to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
The moment had to have been extra special for Folgueiras, as he got to celebrate with his mother in the stands. That sentence might not mean much to some people, but to Folgueiras it means everything.
The junior hails from Malaga, Spain - about 4,500 miles away from the state of Florida. But Folgueiras' mother, Beatirz, indeed made the long journey to the Sunshine State, much to her son's delight.
"Family is everything to me,” he told The Daily Iowan after Iowa's first round win over Clemson on Friday. “It gave me extra motivation when I saw [her]."
One can only imagine what the Folgueiras family celebration is looking like in Tampa right now.
Alvaro Folguieras has just etched his name in Iowa basketball lore.
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