By Ken Cross
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There is never a warning when alligators lie on a bank and wait to strike a victim. Nor is there a warning when the No. 2 Florida Gators show this incredibly metaphorical characteristic of their namesakes.
Tuesday night when Florida rolled to its 22nd win of the season in an 85-63 rout of Oklahoma, the Sooners learned the danger of the reptile as the Gators hit the Sooners with a 27-2 run over 6:42 in the first half. Will Richard hit back-to-back threes to give Florida a 37-17 lead with 5:09 remaining in the first half.
Communications photo by Katie Park
In this Gators attack, Florida led Oklahoma, 15-10, before hitting the Sooners with a 22-5 run which saw them make five three-point field goals and hold Oklahoma to 2-of-8 from the field with four turnovers.
Florida was ignited when guard Alijah Martin threw an alley-oop to forward Rueben Chinyelu on transition off of an OU turnover, showing their aggression and confidence with yet another attack that has been a constant in Florida’s wins this season.
The Gators made nine three-pointers in the first half, while Oklahoma made only seven field goals. Florida also had only one turnover in the first 20 minutes.
“I just think with the consistency in the way in which we compete and the freedom in which we play on offense, we try not to call too many things, in terms of setting up actions and running them,” said Gators coach Todd Golden.
Walter Clayton, Jr., led five Gators in double figures with his 18 points as his last basket gave UF it’s biggest lead of 62-35 with 12:57 to play.
“Walt and Will (Will Richard) had very good moments,” said Golden. “Probably the biggest thing in tonight’s game was the fact that we were able to get through it with playing guys at the most 27 minutes.”
The options Golden gives the players inside of his offense are prime in allowing the Gators to average 83.8 points on 63.5 shots per night.
“We play whatever we call our early game, which is basically continuous ball screen motion because we feel like we have guys that can make plays off ball screens and make correct reads,” analyzed Golden.
Martin played with his usual tenacity after a hip injury had sidelined him. Martin joined Clayton and Richard in leading the Florida offense in the first half and finished with 14 points in 22 minutes.
“It felt like, you know, old school A-Mart (Martin) out there, you know, he was just aggressive,” summarized Golden. “I thought he was really good defensively. He got five defensive rebounds, good floor game, two steals, he did it all. He played really, really well.”
The Gators held Oklahoma’s leading scorer Jalon Moore to only 11 points in 33 minutes as he was 3-of-8 from the field.
“It was a big part of our game plan,” Golden said. “He’s an explosive scorer, 18 and a half a game, really hard to guard as an undersized kind of offensive four in our league. In a way, having Tommy (Haugh) out there, you know, the majority of the time against him was really, really good for us with his feet, and his ability to stay in front.”
After Moore scored six of those points to cut the Gators’ lead back to 51-33, Florida went on a 13-5 run over the next 3:54 after Urban Klavzar scored on a layup to push the lead back to 64-38.
Klavzar hit a pair of threes and scored 10 points in 22 minutes.
The Gators used Klavzar for 22 minutes in Tuesday’s rotation and with Micah Handlogten’s return, it becomes even more dangerous for opponents to try to swim in this pool of Gators.