Florida Gators make statement in 59-point win over Prairie View A&M
Florida center Rueben Chinyelu (9) drives to the basket against Prairie View A&M forward Corey Dunning (4) and guard Dontae Horne (2) in the second half Friday night in Tampa. Chinyelu, who tallied a double double, is "just really hard to wear (Chinyelu) down," his coach says. ©Dirk Shadd Let’s just say there’s a huge difference between a team that struggled to earn a trip to the First Four this week and one that prevailed in the Final Four a year ago.
It’s a gap that can’t be closed between Florida defending a national college basketball title, and a team as defenseless as Prairie View A&M. That was on full display Friday night at Benchmark International Arena, where the only thing left to determine was where the 114-55 beating the No. 1 Gators put on the 16th-seeded Panthers (19-18) ranked in the record book.
The 59-point margin was the second largest in NCAA Tournament history and the most in 63 years, since Loyola-Chicago beat Tennessee Tech by 69 points in 1963. The Gators (27-2) got a double double from center Rueben Chinyelu, who poured in 14 points and had 13 rebounds in only 20 minutes of play. The victory advanced the Gators to Sunday’s second round against No.
9 Iowa. “Rueben is, as you know, just a fantastic player,” Gators coach Todd Golden said. “A relentless worker and he’s improved so much since he’s gotten here to where he is now.
It’s just really hard to wear him down. He does a great job wearing his opponents down. The first half, once we started getting stops, it felt like he was getting every defensive rebound and getting good outlets in transition.
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