Florida basketball took care of business against the Oklahoma Sooners, 96-79, on the road Tuesday night, stringing together a third straight win against SEC teams.
Thomas Haugh dropped 12 of his 21 points in the first half to help Florida get out in front by 22, and the Gators never really looked back. Rueben Chinyelu put together his ninth double-double of the year with a season-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Boogie Fland followed up his breakout game against Tennessee with 15 points on 7-for-16 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds.
While Oklahoma ultimately won the second half, the Sooners never truly threatened to win the game. Florida coasted to victory and seemed like the team that people thought they were when the Gators were ranked inside the top 10. That theory will be tested on Saturday when Florida and undefeated Vanderbilt match up, but fans should feel good about the Orange and Blue’s chances after this one.
Oklahoma didn’t have the size to compete with Florida
It turns out size does matter. Florida’s frontcourt is going to bully most teams, even those within the SEC or Power Four, but this was a level of dominance not seen since non-conference play. It’s not just about winning the rebound battle; it’s about dominating the painted area of the court.
Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten would make some ’90s NBA teams proud. The physicality on defense looks like it deserves more whistles than it gets, yet it’s all within the rules of the game. Handlogten simply needs to go straight up to affect a shot, and Chinyelu is the hardest-working big man in the SEC on any given night. All of this should be talked about before playing Florida, but Oklahoma stuck to its gameplan of driving the lane — at least, attempting to drive the lane — for the entirety of the first half. It didn’t work.
By the end of the first half, Chinyelu had a plus-minus of 20 and eight rebounds, four on each side of the court. Both Alex Condon and Handlogten finished the first half with two blocks apiece. The Sooners shot 29.0% from the field during the first half. Utter dominance by the big guys in Orange and Blue.
Thomas Haugh is a lottery pick
If the broadcast crew didn’t say it enough times, Thomas Haugh looks like a surefire lottery pick in the 2026 NBA draft. There’s a lot of basketball left to play, but Haugh’s versatility and high motor are going to keep him on draft boards. Need a 3-pointer because the guards aren’t hitting them? Haugh’s your guy. Need a clutch rebound and putback? Haugh’s your guy. Need 35 minutes of high-intensity play filled with alley-oops and big dunks? Haugh’s your guy.
Whenever Florida starts to slow down, Haugh steps in and picks up the tempo. It’s hard not to give 110% if you’re on the court with him. The best part is that he no longer has to do it by himself. Chinyelu is getting better as the season continues, Alex Condon still has NBA-level post ability and the passing to match, Boogie Fland is turning into the guard Todd Golden knew he was recruiting out of the portal and the bench is coming along — namely Handlogten and Urban Klavzar, who played eight more minutes that Xaivian Lee tonight.
Gator Boys stay hot?
It feels like this team is finally playing up to its potential. It took nearly 20 games, but this kind of performance is what most expected out of the reigning national champions. The backcourt took longer than expected to get there, but the past two games from Fland have made things much easier on the Gators. It doesn’t look like they are pushing things to try and cover a spread they’ve set internally; instead, they’re playing with a rhythm that naturally leads them to that margin.
Remember, last year’s squad had its struggles. There weren’t any non-conference matchups to test that squad, but falling to Georgia and Missouri gave people serious doubts about Florida’s ability to make a run in March. Then, everything clicked, and the Gators looked like a team that couldn’t be stopped — and no one did. Is it possible that Florida has reached that point 17 games into the season? Maybe. Xaivian Lee still needs to find some consistency, but the rest of the team is running like a well-oiled machine.
Confidence is the most important piece of the puzzle. Walter Clayton Jr. had the swagger all last year, but Will Richard needed some time to get there. The frontcourt knows what’s expected, and they’ve more or less done things right the whole year. If Florida comes out and handles Vanderbilt the way they did Georgia, Tennessee or Oklahoma, it might be over for the rest of the SEC.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators basketball at Oklahoma Sooners recap, takeaways
