When Florida has taken to the hardwood in front of its home crowd this season, its contests have normally featured pom-poms waving in the student section and ear-ringing crowd pops, stemming from high-flying alley-oops and long-range three-pointers.
Those themes held true for the Gators against Oklahoma, and in dominant fashion. Given Florida’s No. 2 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 poll, it’s no secret that there’s all kinds of talent across its roster.
Sophomore guard Urban Klavzar serves as a prime example of UF’s aforementioned depth, and he proved it when he knocked down his second three-pointer in front of the student section. His second hit put Florida up by 25 points with just under six minutes left in the game, pushing the matchup all but out of reach.
“Incredibly proud of our team,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “I thought we did a really good job of being pretty systematic with our effort tonight for the first four minutes. I thought we played really well, sharing the ball, [we] shot the ball really well in the first half.”
UF (23-3, 10-3 SEC) used a stout defense and an efficient, well-balanced offensive performance to take down Oklahoma (16-10, 3-10 SEC) 85-63 in the first-ever SEC matchup between the two squads on Tuesday.
Five Gators finished with double-digit scoring marks. Much like he has all season, however, senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. paced Florida’s offense with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and four three-pointers.
Fellow senior guards Will Richard and Alijah Martin followed with 14 points each and combined for 13 rebounds, with eight boards coming from Richard. When Clayton Jr. was asked about Florida’s starting backcourt, his confidence was clear.
“Best in the country,” he said. “Simple as that.”
Sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu and Klavzar rounded out UF’s double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
It took over three minutes for UF to open its scoring. Nevertheless, a deep three-pointer by Richard, followed by a made long ball by Clayton Jr. 37 seconds later, allowed Florida to enter the under-16 timeout in a 6-6 tie with Oklahoma.
The Gators came out of the break firing on all cylinders. Florida capped off a 12-2 run in under five minutes with a 2-point fadeaway jumper and a top-of-the-key 3-pointer by Clayton Jr., giving UF a 15-8 lead at the 12:12 mark.
“We knew we wanted to come in and have effort and intensity from the jump,” Richard said. “So it was definitely big for us to come in and guard them like that, starting the game off instead of trying to feel our way into the game.”
A pair of made free throws by OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears cut the lead to five. However, that was as close as the Sooners would get to taking a lead for the remainder of the contest.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, UF answered with a 13-4 run fueled by an and-one layup by Martin and an alley-oop flushed by sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu. The latter nearly blew the roof off of the O’Dome, as UF broke out to a 28-14 lead with 7:43 remaining in the first half.
As prolific as Florida’s backcourt has been this season (all three guards are currently averaging double-digit scoring marks), Richard’s individual impact on both ends of the floor has not gone unnoticed — especially against Oklahoma.
UF’s lead grew to 20 with just over five minutes left in the first half, largely behind a sensational sequence from Richard. In less than one minute, Richard buried a 3-pointer, took flight for a massive block on the ensuing defensive possession and splashed another deep ball to put the Gators ahead 37-17.
“When you walk into the gym and you see a guy hitting eight, nine threes in a row, whenever [they’re] working out, it puts confidence in you to have confidence in them to shoot the ball,” Clayton Jr. said.
However, both sides were quiet offensively in the final minutes of the first half, with OU going on a 1-for-8 shooting skid from the field while UF went 1-for-7. Nevertheless, Florida’s explosive scoring runs in the opening 20 minutes paved the way for the Gators to take a 46-24 lead into halftime.
The Sooners stayed afloat in the opening minutes of the second half, outscoring UF 11-7 just over four minutes in. But just as Oklahoma seemed to be finding a rhythm, Florida found an answer.
Clayton Jr. kickstarted a 9-0 run in less than two minutes with a 3-pointer. Richard followed with a strong and-one layup that sent the O’Dome into a frenzy. The latter’s three-point play gave the Gators a 59-35 lead with 13:52 remaining in regulation.
From there, UF never led by less than 20. It’s lead grew as large as 29 late in the second half, following a made layup by junior center Micah Handlogten before Golden emptied his bench.
A red-hot 9-for-20 outing from behind the arc in the first half proved to be a major factor in Florida pulling away from the Sooners. UF shot 28-of-62 (45%) from the field and finished 12-of-32 (38%) from behind the arc while only committing six turnovers to Oklahoma’s 13.
Moreover, Florida’s reserves came through with a spark-plug performance, out-scoring OU’s bench 28-14.
Despite Fears going for a game-high 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting from distance, the Gators held the Sooners to just 19-of-49 (39%) from the field and 7-of-20 (35%) from distance.
“We’ve [had to] stretch some guys out during this period where we’ve had some injuries,” Golden said. “To be able to get through tonight, with [Clayton Jr.] and [Martin] playing the most minutes at 27, gives me confidence we’ll be fresh, ready to go against LSU.”
Next, Florida will travel to the bayou for a road matchup against LSU. Tip-off from Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is set for Saturday at 6 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
