GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It had been a minute since a Florida player grabbed at least 20 rebounds in a game. Try 31 years.
But Friday night, UF Athletic Hall of Famer Andrew DeClercq's name was being invoked in the aftermath of the 10th-ranked Gators' 80-45 pounding of Merrimack at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. DeClercq, the starting center on Florida's first Final Four team, was that last UF player to clean 20 off the glass, doing so in an upset of Kentucky in 1994.
Enter junior 6-foot-10, 265-pound center Rueben Chinyelu, the starting center of last season's Final Four and national championship squad, who cannibalized the overmatched Warriors for 21 rebounds – the most by a Gator not only since DeClercq, but in the shot-clock era (1985) – on his way to a third straight double-double. Chinyelu scored five of the game's first eight points, helped his team build a fat first-half lead, then cleaned the windows until he was pulled with 14 points and those 21 caroms in 27 minutes.
'He's a monster," UF junior forward Alex Condon said.
With the monstrous numbers to back it up. Chineylu now has 56 rebounds in his last four games, but his 21 in this one will find a place in the record book.
"I didn't know really until I got off and they were like 'Yeah, you got like over 20 boards,' and it felt good," Chinyelu said through his thick Nigerian accent. "That's what we do and let's keep stacking that."
Rueben Chinylelu (left) denies Merrimack forward Todd Brogna at the rim Friday.
It was definitely what Alex Condon did also. He finished with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds for his third double of the season and 10th of his career. Junior forward Thomas Haugh added 13 points and sophomore point guard Boogie Fland had 10. Backup guards Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown both chipped in six points (on two 3s each) and three boards of the bench to help offset another tough offensive night for guard Xaivian Lee, who missed all six of his shots in 22 minutes.
The Gators (4-1) converted at just 43.4 for the game and made eight of 22 from deep (a season-high 36.4%), but the defense that has defined the current four-game winning streak was there throughout. The Warriors (2-4), out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, were held to 28.6% and four of 24 from the arc (16%).
UF outrebounded Merrimack 53-25, with a 19-7 edge on the offensive ends.
"We have some guys struggling in some different areas offensively, but collectively our defensive effort is really, really good right now. And for me, I measure guys on how they do with the things that don't require talent," UF coach Todd Golden said. "Are they defending? Are they rebounding? Are they taking care of the ball? Are they on the scouting report? Are they diving on the floor for loose balls? Are they blocking out? All these different things. Those are the things that we care about. We'll worry about the shot-making later."
Chinyelu hit one of two free throws to start the game, followed with a putback and then flushed a lob from Condon within the first three and a half minutes. The Gators scored the game's first 11 points, used a run of 21 straight to surge in front 30-4 and led 44-17 at the break.
"We were just competing really, really well [and] we were guarding really hard. I thought we showed great pride that way in the first half," Golden said after facing Merrimack's 40 minutes of nothing but 2-3 zone defense. "We already had a lead and we were finishing every play. We were taking what the defense gave us. We weren't getting cute or unique with what we were trying to [be] systematic with it."
When not on the floor on his way to scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench, sophomore guard Isaiah Brown (20) was cheering on his teammates.
The second half was not as lopsided (UF won it 36-28), but with a lead of 38 points approaching three minutes it was only a matter of time until Golden looked down his bench and answered the Rowdy Reptiles' bombastic chants to get 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux on the floor.
WE WANT OL-LIE!
They got him for the final 2:26 and the tallest player in college basketball delivered the first point (with a rousing ovation for a free throw) and rebound of his career to make it an all-around good night for the home team.
