Remember just a little over a month ago when Oklahoma and Florida were two of just four teams in college basketball that remained undefeated a month and a half into the season?
Fans of both teams were circling the date of Feb. 18 with anticipation of the hoops showdown between the Sooners and Gators in Gainesville, Florida.
The Sooners were 13-0 at that point and were ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25. There were high expectations that this OU team had finally turned the page under fourth-year head coach Porter Moser and would snap a three-year absence from making the NCAA Tournament field.
Just goes to show you how quickly things can change, seemingly at the blink of an eye. Although in Oklahoma's case, it's been more of a slow, agonizing burn.
Heading into the third week in February and with three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Sooners have won just three games since their 13-0 start and stand 16-9 overall as they prepare to play No. 2 Florida on Tuesday night in that once highly anticipated SEC showdown.
There is still plenty to play for as Oklahoma visits the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville on Tuesday night, but the stakes for these two teams are vastly different. Florida, which has gone 9-3 since beginning the new year 13-0, is playing to secure a coveted No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners, on the other hand, are riding an unsettling four-game losing streak and probably played themselves out of the postseason action with a shocking 82-79 home loss to LSU after squandering a five-point lead in the final 24 seconds.
With five of its final six games, including Tuesday's game with Florida, against SEC conference teams currently ranked in the nation's top 25, it appears pride may be all this Oklahoma team has to play for moving forward.
Oklahoma and Florida have met five times previously with four of the five games taking place since 2017 as part of what was the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Sooners won three of the four games in the challenge series and are 3-2 overall against the Gators.
Two of Oklahoma's previous wins over Florida were under Porter Moser (74-67 in 2021 and 62-53 in 2022).
Tuesday night's game is schedule for a 6 p.m. CT tip-off and will be televised on ESPN2. Karl Ravech will do the play by play with analysis provided by Jimmy Dykes and Molly McGrath as sideline reporter.
What fans need to know
Oklahoma
- Three of Oklahoma's four consecutive losses against ranked teams were by an average of 23.3 points. Out of their 12 conference games so far, seven have been opponents ranked in the top-25 nationally. The game against No. 2 Florida marks just the second time in OU history that the Sooners have played three top-five AP teams in a five-game span.
- Senior Jalen Moore continues to lead the Sooners with a 17.2 scoring average. True freshman and potential NBA lottery pick Jeremiah Fears is next at 15.2. In OU's three SEC wins, Fears has averaged 17.7 points and shot 51% from the field. In their nine conference losses, the true freshman point guard has averaged 10.2 points and shot 30%.
- Sooner transfer guard Brycen Goodine is shooting 50% (28 of 56) in 3-point attempts in SEC play. He would be leading the conference in 3-point shooting if he had enough makes to qualify. Among the 248 active college players who have made at least 100 3-pointers over the past two seasons, Goodine's .458 percentage from 3-point range is second-best nationally.
- Oklahoma and San Jose State are the only teams in NCAA Division I to have four different players score at least 29 points in a game this season, and the Sooners (Jeremiah Fears, Brycen Goodine, Jalon Moore and Duke Miles) are the only team to do so in non-overtime games. Six different Sooners have scored at least 20 points in a game.
Florida
- Florida leads the SEC in scoring margin, beating its opponents by an average of 17.3 points a game. The Gators average 83.8 points a game, fourth-best among SEC teams, while allowing their opponents an average of 66.5 points per contest, third-best in the conference.
- Four Florida starters score in double figures, led by Walter Clayton Jr.'s 17.2 points per game, which is tied with OU's Jalon Moore for eighth-best in the SEC.
- The Gators are one of the better defensive teams in the SEC, which spells trouble for the struggling Sooners, who have shot 40% or better in just one of the last four games. Florida ranks second in the SEC in field-goal percentage defense (39.0) and 3-point percentage defense (28.2).
- Offensive rebounding has been an issue for Oklahoma all season, and Florida isn't going to offer much relief in this department. The Gators rank second in the SEC and average nearly 14 offensive rebounds per game. That leads to second-chance scoring opportunities, something the Sooners can ill afford.
Prediction
Florida is 12-1 at home this season, with its only loss being a one-point defeat to Missouri in early January. The Gators might be playing the best basketball in the conference right now. Sadly, I don't expect Oklahoma to pose much of a challenge for a Florida team playing at home with a lot of fan support -- something that the OU men don't seem to have this season. Florida wins by double digits, handing the Sooners a fifth straight loss.