TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 The Florida Gators love hearing \u201cWe want Ollie!\u201d chants.<\/p>\n
Fans started calling for 7-foot-9 center Olivier Rioux to enter the game just past the midway point of the second half during Florida\u2019s 59-point victory<\/a> over Prairie View A&M on Friday night.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The defending national champions started their repeat bid with the second-largest victory margin in NCAA Tournament<\/a> history. The No. 1 seed Gators (27-7) will face ninth-seeded Iowa<\/a> (22-12) on Sunday night.<\/p>\n The loudest cheers in Florida\u2019s opening-round rout came when Rioux checked in and then scored on a putback dunk long after the outcome was decided.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great moment \u2014 I got the rebound and then I dunked it \u2014 but it\u2019s also a great moment because I hustled, I did my job, and everything else toward the defense was good, too,\u201d Rioux said. \u201cI came to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Rioux\u2019s teammates enjoyed the moment even more than the raucous crowd<\/a> celebrating in the student section and throughout the arena. Chinyelu started jumping up and down and the entire bench went wild.<\/p>\n Rioux, a redshirt freshman from Canada who became the world\u2019s tallest teenager<\/a> before turning 20, is believed to be the tallest player in NCAA history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d Chinyelu said. \u201cJust 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s played.<\/p>\n \u201cJust me seeing him being able to step up there, go in there, dunk the ball, make points, you could see everybody enjoyed it,\u201d Chinyelu said. \u201cAny time we\u2019re playing and we can set up an opportunity to get our guys in, we really do that because that\u2019s what we do because they grind. You guys don\u2019t see behind the scenes. They get ready, they\u2019re getting us ready, they\u2019re playing with us, trying to make sure we have what we need to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n Rioux is determined to improve as a player, be more than a sideshow and display his skills.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important and I think I did that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Facing Iowa<\/p>\n Next up for the Gators is a matchup against an opponent that\u2019s been one of the best shooting teams in the nation, with a spot in the Sweet 16 in the South Region at stake.<\/p>\n Iowa\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Stirtz, Kael Combs, Tavion Banks and Cam Manyawu reached the second round last season with Drake and transferred to Iowa with coach Ben McCollum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got really loyal kids and I knew that going in,\u201d McCollum said. \u201cWhether or not they\u2019re perfect, they\u2019re not. We\u2019ve got our issues. I\u2019ve got my issues. But what they\u2019re perfect at is loyalty, and they\u2019re tough and they established the foundation. We\u2019re not done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Rioux punctuated Florida\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt definitely will be a battle of tempo, a battle of pace, and obviously Ben is a great coach,\u201d Florida coach Todd Golden said of Iowa. \u201cBennett is a great player. They\u2019ve played really good basketball, and it\u2019s going to be a great challenge for us.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-mens-bracket<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 The Florida Gators love hearing \u201cWe want Ollie!\u201d chants. 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