Records: Florida 23-3, 10-3 SEC; Oklahoma 16-10, 3-10 SEC
Next Up: Saturday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m. EST, at LSU, SEC Network
Notable
* Walter Clayton Jr.’s 18 points led five Gators in double figures, as UF hit 12 3-pointers and matched a season-low with six turnovers.
* Will Richard and Alijah Martin scored 14 points each, while Rueben Chinyelu added 11 and Urban Klavžar scored a career-high 10.
* Florida knocked down six consecutive 3-point attempts while opening up a 20-point first half lead. Five of those 3s came within a 17-3 Florida run.
* Florida extended its winning streak to five and has hit double-figure 3-pointers in all five games over this stretch. Over the five games, UF is .420 from 3-point range, averaging 12.6 made per game. Five different Gators are shooting 40% or better from 3 over that stretch, including Klavžar’s 9-for-13 (.692) hot streak.
* Florida has had five double-figure scorers in four consecutive games for the first time dating back to 1996 (Billy Donovan hire). The Gators had three consecutive games with five in double figures twice last season and on four occasions between 1998-2005.
* Florida went the first 16 minutes of the game without a turnover, committed just one the entire first half and matched a season-low with six in the game.
* Florida’s five-game winning streak is its longest in SEC play since winning five in row Feb. 13-27, 2019.
* Will Richard and Walter Clayton Jr. now rank #1 and #2 respectively in career 3-point field goals all-time among Florida transfers (Richard 171, Clayton 163).
* Clayton has hit a 3-pointer in 48 straight appearances.
* Five of the Gators’ 10 SEC wins have been by 20+ points.
* The win was the Gators’ 18th this season by double digits, the team’s most wins by 10+ points in a season since posting 21 in 2013-14.
* The Gators earned their 700th all-time SEC regular season win.
Head Coach Todd Golden
Opening Statement…
“Just, again incredibly proud of our team. I thought we did a really good job of being pretty systematic with our effort tonight. After the first four minutes I thought we played really well, sharing the ball, shot the ball really well in the first half, defended at a very good level, which we needed to do. I think Oklahoma is a very good offensive team; they’re very hard to guard. They run good stuff. They play together. They go undersized a little bit which makes them harder to guard, especially for us a team that likes to stay big, and holding them to 26-27% in the first half, I thought set the tone and obviously the back half of that first half we were able to get on a little bit of a run, create a little bit of separation going into halftime with a comfortable lead. And then in the second half, just did what we needed to do to finish the game. Shot our free throws pretty well, rebounded better in the second half. We were pretty elite tonight taking care of the ball. I thought we did a good job of limiting our turnovers and we had guys step up and played well. I thought Urb [Urban Klavžar] had a great game, gave us really good minutes off the bench. Alijah [Martin] I thought played really well. Obviously, Walt [Walter Clayton Jr.] and Will [Richard] had really good moments, and probably the best thing for us in tonight’s game was the fact that we were able to get through it only playing guys at the most 27 minutes. We’ve stretched some guys out during this period where we’ve had some injuries and be able to get though tonight with Walt and Alijah playing the most at 27 minutes gives me confidence we’ll be fresh ready to go for LSU on Saturday.”
On limiting the number of turnovers…
“I thought we kept it simple. For the most part we didn’t put ourselves in precarious situations. We made the simple play and got off the ball pretty well for the most part, let our teammate or the next guy make it, make the play and just kind of took what the defense gave us. So, I thought that we did a good job of keeping it simple on the offensive end.”
On the level of confidence that the team is playing with…
“I just think with the consistency and the way which we compete and the freedom in which we play on offense. We try not to call too many things you know in terms of setting up actions. We play out of our – what we call it – ‘early game,’ which is basically continuous ball screen motion because we feel like we have guys that can make plays out of ball screens and make the right reads. And it’s just harder to scout, as opposed to running a set action that has one specific shot you’re looking for. I also think our guys have a lot of fun out there. You see when certain guys make plays how excited our bench gets. Like, we have a very connected team. We have a lot of guys that care about each other and that pull for each other. An example I’ll give is, I took Walt and Will out with I think like 10 minutes to go in the second half, and I think selfish guys would’ve been [upset] that they didn’t get to go back in the game, right? They usually are playing 34-35 minutes; tonight they played 27. And I was mindful of it. I looked down at the bench with about five minutes to go and we had a score, and both those guys were up going nuts for their teammates, when they finished the bucket. And I’m just like, ‘Man, this is why we are good right here.’ These guys that are senior leaders, that unfortunately for us, in a couple of months are going to be moved on and you know playing pro and are going to have aspirations to play at the highest level. Like, instead of worrying about their individual numbers they’re pulling for Denzel [Aberdeen], Urbie [Klavžar] and Zay [Isaiah Brown] when they are in the game to go have success and some personal points and accolades. So again, it goes back to our team and being super unselfish and guys playing and pulling for each other.”
Senior G Walter Clayton Jr.
On what has led to the team’s confidence in their three-point shooting…
“Everybody just consistently in the gym, in their own time. When you walk into the gym and you see a guy hitting eight, nine threes in a row whenever they work out, it puts confidence in you to have confidence in them to be able to shoot the ball. We’ve all got confidence in each other.”
On Urban Klavžar’s minutes
“[Urban] was great. I think he’s just kind of coming into his own. When he first got here, we saw it earlier this year. So, I think now that he’s getting more minutes, getting some time on the floor, he’s showing what he’s capable of, what we already knew.”
Grad G Alijah Martin
On what it says to have played such a clean game with only six turnovers…
“It means we’re getting better. We’re getting better reads, we’re on a better page with each other, and that we’re just doing what we have to do to win.”
On the role that Urban Klavžar and Denzel Aberdeen have taken on, and what that says of the team’s depth…
“To be great in March, you’ve got to have a deep roster. We’re pretty deep, in the bigs and in the guards, and we’re all pretty confident in each other.”
Senior G Will Richard
On the team’s first-half defensive effort…
“We knew we wanted to come in and have effort and intensity from the jump, so it was definitely big for us to come in and guard them like that starting the game instead of trying to feel our way into the game.”
On taking on new roles and playing some four given some of the team’s injuries…
“I’m very comfortable with that. I’m a versatile player and I’m willing to do anything to win the game. So, if that means I’m playing the four, getting in there and rebounding, I’m going to do it. I just want to win games.”
