The trip to Florida proved to be anything but a vacation for the Oklahoma men's basketball team, although the way No. 2 Florida dominated the game on Tuesday night, the spiraling Sooners might as well have been on a mid-winter break.
In what has become all too common for Oklahoma basketball of late, the Sooners suffered another one-sided blowout, this time by 22 points, 85-63, to a Florida Gator team that is in contention for an SEC conference championship, as well as a No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma led 4-0 almost three minutes into the game, but after that it was all Florida as the Gators made nine 3-pointers and scored 46 first-half points to just 24 by the Sooners, who after scoring two quick field goals to open the game missed all but five of their next 22 shots and trailed by 22 at halftime.
Florida coach Todd Golden told ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath at halftime that he liked what he'd seen from his team so far but he wanted them to keep their foot on the throttle.
"The goal is to win by 30," he said.
And the Gators came close to fulfilling that objective, building a 29-point advantage with just a little over four minutes remaining in the game. The Sooners went on a too-little, too-late 13-6 mini run to finish out the game, but the damage had already long been done.
Freshman Jeremiah Fears led the Sooner offense, reaching the 20-point level for the seventh time this season with a 22-point performance and a career-best four of eight 3-pointers. Jalon Moore added 11, the only other OU player to score in double figures.
Oklahoma's losing streak grew to five games and leaves the Sooners (3-10) with the second-worst conference record in the SEC. Only South Carolina, which has lost all 13 of its conference games, sits lower than OU in the conference standings.
There isn't much relief in site for Porter Moser's struggling troops. No. 22 Mississippi State (19-7, 7-6) comes to Norman on Saturday.
Three takeaways that help tell the sad story of a season circling the drain:
1. Sooners' shooting struggles continue
During their five-game losing streak, the Sooners' field-goal percentage has been the worst it has been all season. Only once in those five games, four of which were against top-25 opponents, has Oklahoma shot better than 40%.
The Sooners shot just 38.8% against Florida on Tuesday night (26.9% in the first half). Just twice in their first 20 games did the Sooners shoot worse than 40% for the game.
2. Florida's experience, depth too much for OU
The Gators are a veteran team with good size in the front court, great guard play and a deep, talented roster-- all ingredients that lead to success on the hardwood.
Five different Florida players scored in double digits against the Sooners, two of which were reserves. The Florida bench contributed 28 of the Gators' 85 points, compared to just 14 points for the Oklahoma bench players.
3. Turnovers, free-throw misses cost Sooners 27 points
Turnovers have been an issue all season for this Oklahoma team, and they were again on Tuesday against an opportunistic Florida defense.
Thirteen Oklahoma turnovers against the Gators led to 18 points. The Sooners are the best free-throw shooting team in the SEC, but OU had a bad night at the free-throw line against the Gators. Oklahoma was just 18 of 27 from the charity stripe on Tuesday night.
When you add those two elements together, it amounts to 27 points that went against the Sooners.