TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥� The Florida Gators love hearing 鈥淲e want Ollie!鈥� chants.
Fans started calling for 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux to enter the game just past the midway point of the second half during over Prairie View A&M on Friday night.
Rueben Chinyelu, who broke a school record with his 19th double-double of the season, waved his arms, pumping up the crowd to scream louder for Rioux.
The defending national champions started their repeat bid with the second-largest victory margin in history. The No. 1 seed Gators (27-7) will face (22-12) on Sunday night.
The loudest cheers in Florida鈥檚 opening-round rout came when Rioux checked in and then scored on a putback dunk long after the outcome was decided.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great moment 鈥� I got the rebound and then I dunked it 鈥� but it鈥檚 also a great moment because I hustled, I did my job, and everything else toward the defense was good, too,鈥� Rioux said. 鈥淚 came to play.鈥�
Rioux鈥檚 teammates enjoyed the moment even more than the celebrating in the student section and throughout the arena. Chinyelu started jumping up and down and the entire bench went wild.
Rioux, a redshirt freshman from Canada who before turning 20, is believed to be the tallest player in NCAA history.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a great time just being with this guy, be it from summertime, grinding with this guy, playing together, trying to get each other better,鈥� Chinyelu said. 鈥淛ust trying to do whatever to get him to play the game because we all worked so hard for that, so whatever time, seconds he gets, cherish that. I just want to see everybody win, see everybody enjoy it, do whatever we can to just make sure everybody gets to feel that moment being on the court playing with each other.鈥�
Getting Rioux in the game means the Gators are well on their way to another victory. He played sparingly in the regular season, making two of his three shots in 13 minutes of action across 10 games. Rioux missed his first two shots before his thunderous dunk against Prairie View A&M. The Gators now are 11-0 in games he鈥檚 played.
鈥淛ust me seeing him being able to step up there, go in there, dunk the ball, make points, you could see everybody enjoyed it,鈥� Chinyelu said. 鈥淎ny time we鈥檙e playing and we can set up an opportunity to get our guys in, we really do that because that鈥檚 what we do because they grind. You guys don鈥檛 see behind the scenes. They get ready, they鈥檙e getting us ready, they鈥檙e playing with us, trying to make sure we have what we need to deliver.”
Rioux is determined to improve as a player, be more than a sideshow and display his skills.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important and I think I did that,鈥� he said.
Facing Iowa
Next up for the Gators is a matchup against an opponent that鈥檚 been one of the best shooting teams in the nation, with a spot in the Sweet 16 in the South Region at stake.
Iowa鈥檚 Bennett Stirtz had a rare off night but still finished with 16 points on 4-for-17 shooting to lead the Hawkeyes to a 67-61 victory over Clemson on Friday night.
Stirtz, Kael Combs, Tavion Banks and Cam Manyawu reached the second round last season with Drake and transferred to Iowa with coach Ben McCollum.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got really loyal kids and I knew that going in,鈥� McCollum said. 鈥淲hether or not they鈥檙e perfect, they鈥檙e not. We鈥檝e got our issues. I鈥檝e got my issues. But what they鈥檙e perfect at is loyalty, and they鈥檙e tough and they established the foundation. We鈥檙e not done yet.鈥�
Before Rioux punctuated Florida鈥檚 opener, the Gators had seven players reach double figures. Boogie Fland scored 16 points to lead the way, Chinyelu had 14 points and 13 rebounds, Thomas Haugh also scored 14 and Alex Condon added 13.
鈥淚t definitely will be a battle of tempo, a battle of pace, and obviously Ben is a great coach,鈥� Florida coach Todd Golden said of Iowa. 鈥淏ennett is a great player. They鈥檝e played really good basketball, and it鈥檚 going to be a great challenge for us.鈥�
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