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Officials miss foul as Florida's Rueben Chinyelu gets jersey ripped off, TNT broadcast explains aftermath

Barkley-Truaxby: Barkley Truax11/04/25BarkleyTruax
Rueben-Chinyelu-Florida-Gators
Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu (9) dunks the ball against the Grambling State Tigers during the second half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images)

Rueben Chinyelu was missed half of his jersey when pleading his case to the officials that he was held during a no-call. The Florida big man got into a tie-up with Arizona forward Tobe Awaka late in the first half on Monday — but no foul was called.

With no call on the floor, Brian Anderson, who was on commentary alongside Grant Hill on the TNT broadcast during Monday’s game, revealed that the officials called a timeout during the commercial break to review if it was a foul.

“They wanted to see if this was a possible flagrant,” Anderson said. “You couldn’t go back and call it a common foul. So it’s either no foul or a flagrant. They determined it didn’t rise to the level of a flagrant, and Chinyelu is going to have to go get a new jersey.”

Sideline reporter Andy Katz revealed that the Florida student managers rushed to the back to find a replacement jersey for the big man. According to Katz, it was slim pickings.

“They had one bag,” Katz said. “It had two pairs of shorts and one jersey — number 34 — and they got it to Chinyelu.”

The moment came amid a physical first half of basketball in Las Vegas. Florida would lead by as many as 12 points in the first half, but entered halftime losing 50-46. They were outscored 30-14 over the final 9:54.

Chinyelu would go on to play 12 minutes in the first half, scoring two points across four shot attempts. He recorded one rebound before the halftime break but had to sit nearly half of that time with two fouls.

Monday’s matchup is the first time Florida fans see No. 9 — temporarily No. 34 — since he helped last season’s Florida team to a national championship under head coach Todd Golden. Chinyelu was a pivotal piece to the title run, starting in all 40 games for the Gators during the 2024-25 season.

During that run, Chinyelu averaged 6.0 point and 6.6 rebounds per game on a 59.9 field goal percentage. It was his first season in Gainesville after transferring from Washington State, where he began his college career.

Fans can watch the top-25 matchup, which appears to be heading for an exciting finish, live on TNT. Looking ahead, Florida will open its 2025 home slate against North Florida on Thursday — a game which Chinyelu should have his original jersey for.