RALEIGH, N.C. — As expected, Florida was too much for Norfolk State to contain. Bulletin board material would not be enough for a No. 16 seed seeking an NCAA Tournament stunner.

UF, the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, quickly staked a double-digit lead in the opening five minutes, built it to more than 30 and ultimately cruised by the scrappy Spartans and their incredulous coach, 95-69, Friday night at Lenovo Center.

A day after Norfolk State’s Robert Jones said the 28.5-point spread favoring Florida left him and his players “angry,” the Gators (31-4) gave Jones plenty to stew about. But after trailing by as many as 32 points, the Spartans showed some fight to cover the spread and produce a respectable showing.

But the Gators still easily picked up Todd Golden’s first NCAA Tournament victory at UF and the program’s first win in the Big Dance since beating Virginia Tech in 2021. Florida now moves on to the second round to face the winner of the day’s nightcap between two-time defending national champion UConn and SEC newcomer Oklahoma.

Freshly minted AP first-team All-American Walter Clayton Jr. led the way with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting, highlighted by a three-point play early in the second half to give him more than 2,000 points as a collegian. He served notice with a 3-pointer beyond 25 feet on the game’s opening possession.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior point guard soon had more than 100 feet of 3s on 4-of-6 shooting and 14 points during the game’s initial six minutes as UF led 19-3.

The Gators steadily built their lead, with shooting guard Alijah Martin joining the fun with nine straight points — on a three-point play and two 3s — and 11 of UF’s 13 as it extended the advantage to 28 points, at 42-14.

Florida led by as many as 32 points, but Norfolk State closed the first half an 11-0 run as its fans clad in green and yellow cheered on as the Spartans headed to the locker room trailing.

The Spartans cut the led to 19 points on a layup by Brian Moore Jr. less than two minutes into the half, but Clayton responded with his three-point play, on a driving layup that drew a foul, to push him past 2,000 career points.

UF never led by fewer than 18 points.

Martin finished with 17 points while Will Richard, the third member of the Gators’ veteran backcourt trio, managed eight on 1-of-6 shooting. UF finished with a 41-28 rebounding advantage, 6-foot-11, 255-pound Rueben Chinyelu and 7-foot-1, 255-pound Micah Handlogten grabbing eight apiece.

Chinyelu set the tone immediately, grabbing five rebounds and scoring a put-back and dunk in the first four minutes.

Guard Christian Ings led Norfolk State with 16 points while guard Jaylani Darden finished with 15 and forward Chris Fields Jr. 14 on 7-of-12 shooting.

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