FINAL: No. 10 Florida vs Merrimack

Friday, November 21

Gainesville, FL

7 PM

Florida Gators

4-1,0-0SEC

Merrimack

2-4,0-0MAAC

Merrimack

Florida

Chris Harry’s At the Buzzer presented by Ticketmaster

FINAL: No. 10 Florida vs Merrimack

Friday, November 21, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior center Rueben Chinyelu tallied the first 20-rebound performance by a Florida player in more than three decades, as the 10th-ranked Gators made easy work of Merrimack with an 80-45 victory before a sellout Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center crowd Friday night.

Chinyelu, the 6-foot-10, 265-pounder from Nigeria, scored of five of the game's first eight points on his way to tallying 14 points on five of eight from the floor, but it was his monstrous work on the boards -- 21 rebounds in 27 minutes -- that made for the most dominant performance on the glass by a Gator since Andrew DeClercq pulled 20 against Kentucky in the 1994 Final Four season. Chinyelu also became the first UF player since Tyrese Samuel two seasons ago to post three consecutive double-doubles.

Junior forward Alex Condon joined the double-double party with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Thomas Haugh threw in 13 points and sophomore point guard Boogie Fland had 10

UF, shot just 44% for the game but held the Warriors to 29%, scored the game's first 11 points, then used a run of 21 straight to go ahead 30-4 with just under eight minutes to go in the game. The Gators' lead swelled to as high of 38 with about three minutes left in the game when 7-foot-9 walk-on center Olivier Rioux, the tallest player in college basketball history, checked into the game and eventually scored his first point and grabbed his first rebound.

UF center **Rueben Chinyelu** (9) on the defensive Friday night against the Warriors.

Turning Point

UF led 11-4 six minutes into the game when it took off and scored the game's next 21 points over six-plus minutes, with Condon accounting for six points and backup guards Isaiah Brown and Urban Klavzar hitting 3s.

Staggering Statistic

Chinyelu's rebounds, first and foremost. But the 21-0 run was the Gators' fourth this decade of at least 20 consecutive points. The largest such spree came in last year's ESPN Events Invitational holiday tournament at Kissimmee, Florida, a rush of 27 straight in the tournament title game of an eventual 88-51 smashing of Wichita State. The two others: 21-0 vs. Virginia in the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Orlando and 20-0 against Merrimack two Decembers ago at the O'Dome.

Up Next

Florida (4-1) will leave Tuesday for San Diego, where the Gators will play in the Rady Children's Invitational. The event is a four-team tournament, with UF facing Texas Christian (3-2) in first-round play on Thanksgiving Day and, pending results, either No. 23 Wisconsin (4-0) or Providence (3-2) in the Black Friday championship or consolation round.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Find his story archives here.