Grant Sherfield reveals the key to Oklahoma pulling away from Florida in second half

Oklahoma basketball earned a big win against Florida on Tuesday in the Jumpman Invitational behind a strong second half. Although the Sooners trailed the Gators by two points at halftime, they came out strong in the second half to outscore Florida 33-22 on their way to a 62-53 victory.

Guard Grant Sherfield was a big part of that, scoring 15 of his 22 points in the second after foul trouble limited his playing time in the first. With a little more than three minutes remaining, Oklahoma led Florida only 52-49, but pulled away late as Sherfield scored six of their 10 points from then on.

Speaking postgame on ESPN, Sherfield revealed what he believes was the key difference after the half.

“I feel like we were the tougher team in the second half,” he said. “They kind of came out in the first half and punched us in the mouth, but we responded. We respond well to adversity. I’m just proud of our guys for that.”

Sherfield was an efficient 7-of-13 from the floor in the win, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He made more than half of the Sooners’ triples and was one of only two players on the team to reach double figures, leading OU in scoring.

Sherfield praised his teammates for the chemistry they displayed in the second half, saying that will make them a dangerous team as they prepare to open Big 12 play in a little more than a week.

“You can just tell our team loves to play with each other,” he said. “When you have that, that’s just a secret advantage that we have over other teams. We want to throw that into conference play.”

Oklahoma improved to 8-3 on the season with the win Tuesday, and now prepares for another big time matchup against rival Texas. Tip-off for that game is set for 1 p.m. CT on New Year’s Eve in Norman.