One of the most intriguing individual matchups on the college basketball calendar Monday night will take place in the paint when No. 14 Miami opens its season against No. 1 Florida in Tampa.
Miami transfer Somto Cyril and Florida's Rueben Chinyelu, both Nigerian big men, will square off again after a physical and controversial meeting last January that ended with Cyril's ejection.
The Hurricanes and Gators tip off at 6 p.m. ET at Benchmark International Arena in the Orion180 Tip-Off Classic.
Ejection in Gainesville
The last time Cyril and Chinyelu shared the floor, the night ended early for the Georgia big man. During Georgia's 92-77 loss at Florida, Cyril was ejected midway through the first half after officials reviewed a play and assessed a flagrant-2 foul.
After a made basket, the two were jockeying for position under the basket when Cyril swung his arm and fist toward Chinyelu. Officials initially called a common foul before reviewing the replay and ejecting Cyril. Florida scored the next eight points and quickly built its largest lead of the game. Cyril appeared to apologize to Georgia coach Mike White afterward as he was ushered off the floor amid boos from the home crowd.
Cyril's impact at Georgia and transfer to Miami
Cyril transferred to Miami after a breakout sophomore season at Georgia in which he established himself as one of the SEC's most productive defensive bigs. He led the conference and ranked 13th nationally with 2.2 blocks per game. He also led the nation with 83 dunks and was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Offensively, the 6-foot-11 center set a Georgia program record by shooting 75.9% from the field (120-of-158). He averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds while ranking among the Bulldogs' single-season leaders in blocks.
Chinyelu's defensive dominance and rebounding
On the other side, Chinyelu enters as the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Florida player to win a Naismith Award. He averaged 11.2 rebounds per game last season (the first Gator in 50 years to average double-figure rebounds) while also contributing 10.9 points and ranking among the national leaders on the glass.
Chinyelu set Florida single-season records for offensive rebounds (137) and double-doubles (19). He was also named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
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