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As the regular season gets closer to wrapping up and tournament seeding eventually gets announced, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team is looking to remain dominant and avoid any upset losses. The Gators did exactly that in a home victory against the newly added Southeastern Conference team Oklahoma Sooners.
The No. 2 Florida Gators (23-3, 10-3 SEC) defeated the Oklahoma Sooners (16-10, 3-10 SEC) 85-63 Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. It was a lopsided competition from the beginning and Florida remained in control for all 40 minutes.
Inside the Gators’ Instant Analysis takes a quick look at how the game unfolded.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Florida allowed just 12 points within the first 10 minutes of the game.
Oklahoma struggled tremendously to navigate around the Gators’ defense and to the hoop. The Sooners compiled just seven made shots in the first half, five of which came at the hand of freshman guard Jeremiah Fears.
Fears tallied 22 points throughout the contest but failed to make much impact beyond the box score. The Sooners shot 26% from the field in the first half and 18% from three.
THEY STOLE THE SHOW: Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. played phenomenally.
He landed tough shots, played efficiently and created opportunities for his teammates. Clayton led his team in points in both halves and finished the contest with 18 points, landing six of his nine shot attempts and four threes.
THESE STATS DON’T LIE: While Oklahoma has been one of the lesser defensive teams in the Southeastern Conference, it hasn’t failed to defend beyond the perimeter well. The Sooners entered Tuesday’s contest ranked No. 12 in the country in defensive three-point percentage (29.3%).
Despite this number, Florida found holes in Oklahoma’s defense and capitalized. The Gators hit nine triples — more threes than the Sooners’ total field goals — in the first half to take a 46-24 lead. UF finished the contest with 12 made threes.
THIS MATCHUP PROVED KEY: Fears was the lone contributor for the Sooners as Oklahoma senior forward Jalon Moore failed to have any offensive impact throughout most of the contest.
Moore entered Tuesday’s game averaging 17.2 points and 5.8 rebounds on 50% shooting. He ended the first half with six points and wrapped up the night with 11 points and hit just three of his eight shot attempts.
WHAT A PLAY: The Gators are most efficient when they play at their preferred, quick pace.
In the first half, Florida guard Alijah Martin lobbed a pass to Rueben Chinyelu on the fast break. Chinyelu soared high above the rim and slammed it with two hands to put Florida up 28-14.
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