Somto Cyril ejection exacerbates rebounding struggles for Georgia basketball

Georgia basketball’s weakness proved fatal Tuesday night in its first road conference game of the season.

The 18th-ranked Bulldogs were out-rebounded, 56 to 35, in their 92-77 loss to Florida. The defeat highlighted Georgia’s weakness on the glass, heightened by the ejection of starting center Somto Cyril.

Cyril was thrown out of the game with 10:14 left in the first half after elbowing Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu in the face. As the sophomore made his way off the court and into the locker room, Georgia’s dreams of an upset victory left with him.

“He lost control of his emotions,” coach Mike White said. “He’s come a long way with controlling his emotions and playing less emotional … It’s his personality, but we’ve gotta play with more maturity and poise and make better decisions.”

Georgia already faced a tall task before losing Cyril with Florida’s strength on the boards. The Gators led the nation in both offensive (17) and total (46.7) rebounds per game, while tallying nearly 16 more rebounds per outing than their opponents.

Georgia, on the other hand, ranked eighth with around 43 rebounds per game but didn’t match up well against the Gators. The Bulldogs’ average of 14.1 offensive rebounds ranked 21st, while their 29.4 defensive boards came in at No. 13.

Cyril notched 89 of Georgia’s 609 rebounds this season and expected to play a prominent role in keeping the Gators off the glass. Forwards Dylan James and Justin Abson helped mask his absence in the post — combining for 12 boards — but their efforts were not enough to overcome Florida’s valiant showing.

“Is (Cyril) a big factor for us? Absolutely enormous factor for us,” White said. “Is that why we lost the game? No. (His ejection) didn’t help, but there’s a lot of things that we could’ve done better with Somto sitting in the locker room.”

Georgia struggled in the minutes following Cyril’s ejection — allowing the Gators to construct a 8-0 run — but stayed afloat until halftime. The Bulldogs trailed by one point, 41-40, at the break before getting outscored, 51-37, in the second half.

The Bulldogs struggled to defend the post with Cyril out of the game. They allowed a season-high 58 points in the paint while surrendering 22 offensive rebounds, just two shy of their defensive total.

Georgia also lost the battle of the boards Saturday against Auburn — getting out-rebounded 50 to 35 — but overcame it with a 104-point performance. The Bulldogs shot 41.4% against the Gators with their lowest-scoring outing of the season, allowing their rebounding deficiencies to turn detrimental.