Image Credit: Maddie Washburn, UAA
It was never much of a contest Tuesday night in Norman, Oklahoma, as the newly minted No. 19 Florida Gators wiped the floor with the Oklahoma Sooners to win their third straight game. Florida prevailed 96-79 at the Lloyd Noble Center, leading by as many as 29 points in the contest as it sailed to victory.
The Gators (12-5, 3-1 SEC) have responded markedly well to dropping their first SEC contest of the season, beating consecutive ranked opponents at home last week before continuing their hot streak on the road.
Let’s take a look at what went down with some Fastbreak Takeaways.
It was over when … junior center Rueben Chinyelu scored four straight points early in the second half, completing an 8-0 run that put Florida up a game-high 29 points with 15:20 to play. Oklahoma went wild from 3-point range in the middle of the period to make its deficit more respectable but never came close to reversing the outcome of the contest.
Chinyelu, junior forward Thomas Haugh and sophomore guard Boogie Fland ran up and down the floor in the first half, combining for a 15-1 run that pushed the Gators ahead by 20 points with 4:37 until the break. UF ultimately took a 22-point lead into halftime, utilising another Haugh and Chinyelu-led 9-2 stretch over the final 2:02.
Exceptional efforts: Haugh again led the way for the Gators as the most dominant and efficient player on the floor, scoring a game-high 21 points with seven rebounds while hitting 8 of 13 shots and 3 of 5 triples. Chinyelu was unstoppable inside for the second straight game with a double-double of 19 points and 12 boards; he hit all five of his free throws and 7 of 11 attempts under the hoop. Junior F Alex Condon, who has fallen into more of a contributing role, posted a full line with 10 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Quickly quieted: Fland did fill out the box score with 15 points, six dimes and four rebounds, but he reverted to being cold from 3-point range, hitting just 1 of 5 attempts. He was not as chilly as redshirt senior G Xaivian Lee, though, as Lee went 0 of 6 from beyond the arc, falling to 3 of 18 over the last three games. After a brief breakout period, Lee looks to have circled back to the inconsistent form he showed most of the season, which is not good news for UF moving forward.
Odds & ends: Florida improved to 4-3 all-time against Oklahoma, 2-1 under head coach Todd Golden … the Gators this season improved to 11-1 when leading at halftime, 12-1 when leading with 5 minutes left, 12-3 when outrebounding an opponent, 5-1 when forcing more turnovers, 8-1 when shooting better than 45% from the field, 11-0 when outshooting an opponent, 10-1 when attempting more free throws and 11-2 when four or more players score in double figures
Florida dominated the paint with edges of 43-31 rebounding and 60-22 scoring inside … the Gators had 20 assists on 28 made baskets … UF led for all but 14 seconds of the contest
What it means: Though the Sooners started 1-2 in SEC before hosting the Gators, they were no slouch with wins already this season over Marquette, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State. Against UF, though, OU had no chance once a few shots started falling. Most important about this victory was that Florida did not start feeling itself simply because it won a couple of big games last week.
The Gators’ 3-point shooting remained atrocious. They entered the game ranked 357th out of 361 programs nationally, by far the worst among power conference teams. Yet somehow, UF shot even worse than its 27.9% average for the fourth time in five games, hitting just 27.3% from beyond the arc.
What’s next? Though Florida has dominated the last three games, it faces a much tougher test Saturday when it enters one of the game’s most difficult environments to play No. 10 Vanderbilt. The game will tip off at 2 p.m. ET and air live nationally on ESPN.
