The defense is relentless in Gators blowout of Oklahoma

Gators huddle around Todd Golden during a time out (Photo by Chris Spears)

Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears, an elite scorer and one of the nation’s best freshmen, had to be salivating. On the left side of the key, Fears was one-on-one with Florida big man Rueben Chinyelu, defending on the perimeter because of a switch. A 6-4 slasher with skills that can get him to the rim almost at will, Fears tried to blow by the 6-10, 255-pound Nigerian import whose muscles seem to sprout more muscles.

It should have been a mismatch in Fears' favor. Quick, quick feet and a jab step against big and strong, 20 feet from the basket. The ball went on the deck and Fears thought he would have a clear path to the rim. Maybe that works against 95 percent of the defenders Fears takes on, but perhaps Chinyelu didn’t get the memo.

Chinyelu matched Fears step for step, bounce for bounce. He was quick enough to cut off the angle so when Fears tried to turn the corner he was cut off, still 10 feet from the basket. Making matters worse, the ball caromed off his thigh and sailed out of bounds. Florida basketball.

For all practical purposes, the game was already over when that happened. Second-ranked Florida was already ahead, 64-38, and 11:40 remained to be played, but Florida was still showing what it’s capable of doing. The way the Gators were dropping the hammer on Oklahoma, Florida looked more like the No. 1 team in the nation, not No. 2.

This was only one play, perhaps insignificant in the overall scheme of things, but what Chinyelu did is commonplace for the Florida (23-3, 10-3 SEC) big guys. This is a team with elite in your face defenders who move their feet and make plays whether in the paint or 20 feet from the rim.

“Yeah, Rueben and Tommy (Haugh) are great with their feet,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Gators left Oklahoma gasping for air on the short end of an 85-63 score that could have been much, much worse if the starters had played more than 27 minutes. The Gators played one of their two or three best halves of defense in the first 20 minutes and spent the second half just toying with the Sooners (16-10, 3-10 SEC), who find themselves spiraling out of the NCAA picture with every loss.

With Alex Condon and Sam Alexis in boots nursing ankle sprains, the Gators played with a 3-man rotation. Micah Handlogten, in just his second game of the season, got in 23 minutes. Other than the fact he’s still getting back into game shape, he was good defensively whether in the paint or when he had to switch off to take on smaller guys. When Condon and Alexis return healthy, Golden will have five big guys he can put on the floor who can impact the game defensively in the paint or on the perimeter.

“… I'm a big proponent of taking advantage of the skill set of our players,” Golden said. “And I think Rueben, you know, his ability to move his feet for a frontcourt player is elite, and Tommy is very switchable … so in a game like today, where we knew they would downsize to try to take advantage of our size, try to get some rotations and put us in rotations and get some threes off that, we thought switching 1-5 would be a good way to counteract that and limit their opportunities to get catch-and-shoots.

“And when you have a possession like that, where there are players trying out Rueben, he does a good job keeping him in front, keeping him in front, and it leads to a turnover, those are huge plays for us, and they're deflating for opponents. But our frontcourt's versatility is obviously a big part of why we are who we are.”

The front court guys didn’t put up huge numbers – Chinyelu 11 points, two rebounds; Haugh seven points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal; Handlogten two points, five rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot – but they didn’t have to. This game, their defense was what was necessary.

The scoring slack was picked up on the perimeter where the Gators drained six consecutive first half 3-pointers. With the perimeter guys in a shooting coma and the defense making the Sooners look like lost balls in the tall grass, it was a 46-24 lead at the intermission. Oklahoma had no answers at either end of the floor.   

The sure sign of what was to come offensively came with 12:12 left in the half and the Gators ahead, 12-8. Walter Clayton Jr. was well defended, seemingly pushed out to another area code. Fading to his left and a hand in his face, Clayton launched a high arcing bomb that hardly moved the net as gravity pulled it back down to earth.

Effectively, that was a 13-inch stiletto plunged into the heart of the Sooners. More was to come. Before the half came to a merciful conclusion, Urban Klavzar, Denzel Aberdeen, Alijah Martin, Will Richard (twice) and Clayton buried consecutive threes. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma, which depends on 3-point shooting to compensate for its lack of inside presence, not only couldn’t make shots but had all sorts of difficulty getting one off. At the half, Oklahoma was 7-26 shooting overall and just 2-11 from the 3-point line. The only thing that kept the Sooners within 22 was they kept making their way to the foul line where they hit 8-11. Florida made more shots from the 3-point line (9) than Oklahoma made shots from the field.

In smothering the Sooners, the Gators turned in one of their best defensive halves of the season.  

“We held them to two 3-pointers made, which is a big part of our scout,” Golden said. “You know, guys like (Brycen) Goodine and (Duke) Miles are really, really good shooters, and we wanted to limit their opportunities, you know, in a game like tonight. We fouled a little too much, we gave them 11 free throws, but, you know, to hold them to 24 I'd say that's a very good effort, for sure.”

Oklahoma turned the ball over seven times which the Gators converted into 13 first half points. Although the Gators slacked off defensively in the second half when Golden sat his starters for protracted periods, they still forced another six turnovers which were turned into five more points.

Florida, meanwhile, had only one first half turnover and five in the second half. Because the Sooners could neither turn the Gators over or get into any kind of offensive flow until the game was well past decided, this game was an impressive blowout, the kind of game that helps cement Florida as a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

Like last year, the Gators can score on anyone. Pack the paint and the Gators will bomb away from the 3-point line. Three of the five big guys can shoot the 3-ball, and as Oklahoma coach Porter Moser lamented post game, the Gators have four shooters with legitimate range of 27 feet or more. Try to stop the perimeter and Florida has the size and inside strength to overpower opponents.

The difference this year is the defense, which the Gators are proving capable of playing at an elite level.

“We definitely put a lot more effort into the defensive end this year, in practice, film, and all that,” Richard said. “So it’s definitely been a much more point of emphasis on our team, but A-Mart (Alijah Martin), he’s taken us to a different level, just how he impacts the game, picking up full court, I don’t feel like he gets enough credit for what he does for us on the defensive end. He’s definitely taken us to another level. The emphasis is definitely there and it’s brought us to another level.”

Another factor in Florida’s rise is the ability to plug and play without losing anything when someone goes down with an injury. This was Florida’s fifth straight game with at least one starter (Condon) down. With Alexis also out, the Gators were down at least two guys for the second straight game. Aberdeen, starting for the fifth straight game, had his first without scoring double figures but he was solid defensively to go with seven points, a rebound and three assists. Haugh started his third straight game and didn’t score in double figures but he filled the stat sheet.

Klavzar continued his growth as a valuable contributor off the bench. Against the Sooners, he scored a season-high 10 points, hitting 2-4 of his 3-points shots to go with two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

At the end of the first half, Klavzar grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw, navigated through traffic for a coast-to-coast layup with a second remaining. That play proved he’s more than just a catch-and-shoot guy from behind the 3-point line. It was Klavzar’s fifth straight game with a 3-pointer.

Florida’s top three scorers were the usual suspects on the perimeter. Clayton scored 18 points (4-7 from the 3-point line) while contributing four rebounds and two assists without turning the ball over. Richard had 14 points (3-7 from the 3-point line) with a game-high eight rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and two steals. Martin, who is nearly 100 percent in recovering from the hip pointer that kept him out of the Auburn and Mississippi State games, had 14 points, five rebounds, an assist and two steals.

Game notes: The Gators had five double figures scores for the fourth straight game, the first time that’s happened since 1996, Billy Donovan’s first year as the UF coach … Florida has won 18 games by 10 or more points this season … The Gators have hit at least 10 3-pointers in each of their five straight games … Next up for the Gators is LSU (14-12, 3-10 SEC) Saturday in Baton Rouge (6 p.m., SEC Network) … Oklahoma, which desperately needs a win to stop the bleeding of a 5-game losing streak, will face four ranked teams in its final five in the regular season.

SEC BASKETBALL

Tuesday’s scores

No. 2 FLORIDA (23-3, 10-3 SEC) 85, Oklahoma (16-10, 3-10 SEC) 63

No. 21 Mississippi State (19-7, 7-6 SEC) 70, No. 7 Texas A&M (20-6, 9-4 SEC) 54

LSU (14-12, 3-10 SEC) 81, South Carolina (10-16, 0-13 SEC) 67

Today’s games

Arkansas (15-10, 4-8 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (23-2, 11-1 SEC)

No. 4 Alabama (21-4, 10-2 SEC) at No. 15 Missouri (19-6, 8-4 SEC)

Vanderbilt (17-8, 5-7 SEC) at No. 17 Kentucky (17-8, 6-6 SEC)

UF BASEBALL: GATORS HAMMER JU, 10-4

Brody Donay homered for the fourth straight game as the Gators (4-0) scored a 10-4 road win over Jacksonville Tuesday night. Donay’s home run came in the fifth when the Gators erupted for four runs to take a 4-2 lead. Also going yard in the fifth was Bobby Boser, who launched a 3-run job, his second home run of the year.

It was a big game for transfer Justin Nadeau, who lit up his former Jacksonville teammates for three hits and a sixth inning RBI.

Clemson transfer Billy Barlow pitched the first three innings, giving up one hit and two unearned runs while walking three, hitting one batter and striking out four. Luke McNeillie (1-0) went the next three to pick up the win. McNeillie gave up one hit, one run and struck out seven. Aidan King (2 innings, 1 hit, 1 strikeout) and Alex Philpott (1 inning, 2 strikeouts) went the last three innings.

The Gators will be home to face FAMU tonight at Condron Family Ballpark (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+).

UF LACROSSE: GATORS TAKE DOWN SOUTH FLORIDA, 18-11

Gianna Monaco scored five goals and had an assist as the 5th-ranked Gators (3-0) went on the road for an 18-11 win over South Florida (3-1). Jordan Basso and Gabbi Kouri each had three goals and two assists while Clark Hamilton had three goals.

The Gators are idle until March 1 when they play host to James Madison.