Florida vs. Oklahoma score, takeaways: No. 2 Gators make easy work of Sooners in O’Dome

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

The 2024-25 Florida Gators have been chasing history all season, and they are right up against the most accomplished teams to come before them. On Tuesday night, Florida improved to 23-3 (10-3 SEC), the third-best start through 26 games in program history (best since 2013-14), following a 85-63 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Newly minted as the No. 2 team in the country, the Gators continued a five-game winning streak with as many regular-season games remaining. In doing so, they had five players score in double figures across four straight games for the first time since before Billy Donovan coached the program.

UF is battling atop the SEC standings seeking to earn not only the No. 1 seed in the forthcoming 2025 SEC Tournament but perhaps the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament as well.

Let’s take a look at what went down in Gainesville, Florida, by diving into some Fastbreak Takeaways.

It was over when … senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. bookended a 9-0 run with five points to push Florida ahead by 27 points with 13 minutes to play. Oklahoma had cut into a 24-point advantage UF built through halftime, but the Clayton-powered scoring stretch effectively ended the contest with plenty of time remaining. UF eventually led by as many as 29 points with 4:12 left.

First half focus: The Gators got off to a rough shooting start missing their first five attempts, but Clayton led a 16-4 spurt to push the hosts ahead by nine points midway through the period. Consecutive triples kicked off a 17-3 run — bookended by a pair from senior G Will Richard — to move that advantage to 20 points with 5 minutes until the break. UF ultimately entered the locker room with a 22-point lead while hitting 9 of 20 attempts from long range against the nation’s 12th-ranked 3-point defense.

Exceptional efforts: Clayton, Richard and redshirt senior G Alijah Martin were nearly unstoppable Tuesday; at one point in the second half, they combined to account for nearly 80% of Florida’s team points. Clayton posted a game-high 18 points on 4 of 7 shooting from deep with 4 rebounds, while Richard added 14 points on 3 of 7 shooting from downtown with 8 boards. Martin contributed 14 points with 3 rebounds. Combined, the trio went 7 of 8 from the charity stripe and only committed a single turnover. Just about perfect.

Odds & ends: The Gators pulled even 3-3 all-time with the Sooners, 1-1 under head coach Todd Golden with a victory in the first-ever meeting between UF and OU in Gainesville … Florida under Golden improved to 50-9 when leading at halftime, 58-5 when leading with 5 minutes left, 44-9 when outrebounding an opponent, 43-8 when shooting 45% or better from the field, 57-7 when outshooting an opponent, 51-8 when outshooting an opponent from 3-point range and 20-3 when 5+ players score in double figures … UF only committed four turnovers, hit 17 of 23 free throws and proved to be excellent in key scoring situations winning points off turnovers (18-8) and bench scoring (28-14) battles … senior G Walter Clayton Jr. extended his program record with a made 3-pointer in his 48th consecutive game

What it means: The Gators made such quick work of the Sooners that the second half was largely irrelevant. Forwards sophomore Alex Condon and junior Sam Alexis missed their second straight games with ankle injuries — Condon was in a boot on the bench — with junior center Micah Handlogten getting extended run off the bench, knocking off some of his rust in 16 minutes. Sophomore G Urban Klavzar flashed as a reserve again proving to be the exact 3-point thread that UF has long needed and championship-caliber teams have on their benches. Ultimately, the Gators handily won a game they were expected to win — entering as a 14-point favorite — and came away unscathed. At this point in the season, there’s not much more you can want.

What’s next? Florida will begin a two-game road trek when it visits LSU on Saturday for a 6 p.m. ET tip off. The game will air live nationally on SEC Network.