No. 19 Florida is fresh off two home wins against ranked opponents and a return to the AP Top 25 poll, looking to maintain its momentum on the road.
On Tuesday, the Gators (11-5) face Oklahoma (11-5) in Norman at 9 pm ET, with a chance to pick up their first road conference win of the season.
“They’re a really good offensive team,” head coach Todd Golden said. “They’re dangerous. It’s going to be a really tough game tomorrow night.”
Here are four keys for Florida to pick up its first win in Norman since the Sooners joined the Southeastern Conference.
Slow down their guards
While Oklahoma may not enter Tuesday’s matchup as a premier offensive team, its backcourt has come to life at times this season.
Nijel Pack leads the Sooners with 16.4 points per game on 45% shooting from beyond the arc. Against Nebraska on Nov. 15, the Miami transfer logged 27 points, going 10-for-18 from the field and 6-of-12 from beyond the arc.
“We got to limit his 3-point attempts,” Golden said. “We gotta do a good job making him uncomfortable and making him see size in the paint.”
Pack has experience playing in big games, having led the Hurricanes to the Final Four of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where he was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player.
Xzayvier Brown also brings a threat with his 15.2 points per outing on 48% shooting from the field. The St. Joseph’s transfer leads the team with 3.3 assists per game. In their SEC opener against Ole Miss, Brown recorded a season-high 23 points, going 8-for-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Florida’s guards Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee will have to hold their own defensively and prevent the Sooners' guards from taking over.
Against Tennessee on Saturday, Fland and Lee limited Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Bishop Boswell to a combined 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting. In last Tuesday’s matchup against Georgia, the Gator guards held Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain to a combined 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field.
Lee and Fland will need to continue their recent form defensively to limit Oklahoma’s chances of pulling off the upset.
Keep the guards hot
On the offensive end, Florida’s backcourt will also have to maintain its recent success.
Against the Volunteers, Fland had a breakout performance. He finished the night with a season-high 23 points, including 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Overall, he is averaging 11.6 points per game with 21.7% shooting from three on the season.
“It was a step in the right direction,” Fland said. “ I feel like I battled through it, my teammates had my back and now we're here.”
Lee had a quieter outing with 10 points against Tennessee, but has picked up the pace. He enters Tuesday's game with seven double-digit scoring efforts in Florida's last eight contests.
Off the bench, Urban Klavzar provided a spark on Saturday with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. The junior guard has recorded double-digit points in three of the last four games. Overall, he leads the rotation, shooting 36% from beyond the arc.
“When I get in there, I just gotta be confident,” Klavzar said. “We know we're gonna start hitting shots eventually more and more, so for myself, I just want to be aggressive.”
The trio will have the opportunity to continue its success on offense against Oklahoma, which is allowing 34.7% shooting from 3-point range, the third-worst in the SEC.
Stay active defensively
While Oklahoma’s guards can light up the score, they struggle to take care of the ball.
Pack and Brown are averaging 1.7 turnovers a game and make up two of the six players on the rotation averaging at least one turnover each outing.
Against Mississippi State on Wednesday, Oklahoma lost the turnover battle 13-9 and was minus-7 in points off turnovers. The Sooners fell 72-53 that game.
The Sooners met a similar fate in their 105-99 loss to Nebraska on Nov. 15, where they lost the turnover battle 10-5.
Florida has recently done a better job of being on the right side of the turnover battle.
On Saturday, Florida was plus-8 in turnover margin against Tennessee, leading to 30 points off turnovers in a 91-67 victory. Fland led the team with four steals and has a team-high 1.8 steals per game this season.
“We take that very seriously, executing the defensive game plan,” Fland said after the Tennessee game. “Just staying disciplined and what we do defensively, I feel like that really won us the game."
Against an Oklahoma team that has faced issues with taking care of the ball, look for Fland and the rest of the Florida defense to give the Sooners issues.
Don’t play from behind
In Florida’s two road games, both of which they lost, they struggled to keep a lead throughout the game.
Against Duke on Dec. 2, Florida was down by 12 at the half, requiring a hardworking effort to get back in the contest. While the Gators took a 2-point lead late in the game, the Blue Devils answered back with a 3-pointer to win 67-66
In Missouri, to open conference play, UF also struggled to keep a lead. After leading 22-14 with 11:30 to go in the first half, the Gators took their foot off the gas, giving the Tigers a chance to go on a run and tie the game at 39 at the break. Despite Florida overcoming a double-digit deficit and leading by one with 3:37 left in the game, Missouri took back momentum en route to a 76-74 victory.
In any road game, it's hard to keep the crowd out of the contest, but if Florida can grab an early lead and keep it, the Gators can keep the Sooners fans quiet down the stretch.
“Like most teams, they play better at home,” Golden said. “So we got to be prepared to guard and rebound and play really physically tomorrow night.”
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
