No. 14 Florida Gators travel to Oklahoma
The No. 14 Florida Gators basketball team is looking for its first 7-0 start to a season since the 2012-13 season. To make that happen, the team will have to win on the road Wednesday night in Norman.
The Gators have won two of three all-time against Oklahoma, including the lone contest in Norman, an 84-52 victory in the Jan. 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
The Gators are coming off of a thrilling come from behind, buzzer-beating win over Ohio State.
Florida has played three Power Five Opponents already in Florida State, California and Ohio State, but the Gators will be Oklahoma’s first real test of the season.
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Part of Florida’s major resurgence and hot start is their tenacity on the defensive end. The Gators have double-digit steals in each of their last three games and Florida leads the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage defense at .250. The Gators’ 55.7 points allowed and 6.0 blocked shots rank second in the SEC.
“The points per game has never been a big thing to me. Every team plays with different tempo, but the field goal percentages, of course, the points per possession, 3-point attempts to field goal attempt ratio, 3-point percentage defense, how you’re protecting the rim,” head coach Mike White said Tuesday. “All those things. We’re obsessed with all of them, honestly. You try to be perfect defensively. You’re never going to be perfect offensively, and you’re never going to be perfect defensively either, but to me it’s more — I’ve said it a million times — you’re in the right spot or you’re not, you’re playing really hard or you’re not.”
How to Watch, stream, listen to the Gators
When: Wednesday 8:00 pm
Where: Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma
Records: Florida (6-0); Oklahoma (6-1)
TV: Bally Sports Sun / North Central Florida; Bally Sports Florida / South Florida
Stream: Bally Sports
Listen: Florida Gator Radio
Notes:
- The Gators’ AP No. 14 rank marks the team’s highest since opening the 2019-20 season with a No. 6 ranking.
- UF’s defense has made its presence felt in the early going, limiting five of its first six opponents to 61 points or fewer. The Gators have held two opponents to 45 points, the first time Florida has multiple opponents to 45 points or fewer in a season since 2014-15.
- Florida leads the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage defense at .250, while the teams’ 55.7 points allowed and 6.0 blocked shots rank second in the SEC.
- The Gators have rolled up double digit steals in three straight games,the first such stretch by the Florida defense since a trio of games Dec. 28, 2009-Jan. 3, 2010.
- Florida’s six seniors and graduates account for 86.1% of the team’s scoring to date, a year after having no seniors or graduates on the team. Five of those six are averaging double figures and the sixth, Brandon McKissic, has been a defensive spark plug with a team-leading 11 steals.
