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Friday's slate of games in the NCAA Tournament didn't quite live up to the "March Madness" hype of the first day. There were close games, including an absolute classic between Kentucky and Santa Clara, but there were tons of blowouts to go around. None were more lopsided than Florida's win over Prairie View A&M.
The Gators won by an insane margin of 59 points, with the game finishing 114-55. Florida led by 39 points at halftime, and only slightly took their foot off the pedal by scoring 54 second-half points. If 114 points seems jarring, it's because it is, but it isn't quite the all-time single game record by an NCAA Tournament team.
Loyola Marymount still holds most points in one game record, while Loyola Chicago owns margin of victory record
In fact, several other teams have scored more than 114 points in a game, with the highest-ever score being put up by Loyola Marymount against Michigan in 1990 - a whopping 149 points. UNLV then put up 131 points on that same Loyola Marymount team in the Elite Eight round of the same tournament.
Where this year's Gators do stand out is in margin of victory. Only one other game had a larger margin of victory. Loyola Chicago defeated Tennessee Tech in 1963 by a score of 111-42, a 10-point difference from Florida's win.
A No. 1 seed dominating a No. 16 seed shouldn't be a surprise, but it was still a supremely impressive win for the Gators. As the defending champions, the pressure is on Florida in this tournament. They've passed their first test with flying colors.