OU Basketball: Oklahoma Erases Early Deficit to Overcome Florida at the Jumpman Invitational
Oklahoma picked up a crucial non-conference win on Tuesday night.
After falling behind in the first half, the Sooners caught fire from deep to top the Florida Gators 62-53 at the inaugural Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, NC.
Grant Sherfield led the way again for OU (9-3), as he scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half.
Early on it looked as if the Sooners would fall to the Gators (7-5), as Porter Moser’s team fell into an early hole.
Oklahoma’s first half struggles started when Sherfield had to head to the bench after picking up his second foul with 13:27 left in the first half.
As the Sooner offense struggled without their point guard, the Gators took control.
Running out in transition, Florida built a lead that ballooned as large as 11 points, but then Sherfield’s return with just under eight and a half minutes left until halftime helped ignite a comeback.
Oklahoma steadied, closing the half on a 9-2 run capped off by a Tanner Groves triple, which cut the halftime deficit to just two points.
Sophomore Bijan Cortes and true freshman Otega Oweh both stepped up off the bench to give Moser important minutes in the absence of Sherfield, helping the Sooners seize back momentum in the first half.
Out of the locker room, the Sooners watched up the defensive intensity to take control of the game.
Despite Colin Castleton’s 22 points, Florida was unable to find any offensive production from beyond the arc.
OU prevented Florida from connecting on a single 3-pointer in the second half, and the Gators shot 2-of-22 from deep all night long.
Meanwhile, the Sooners were able to knockdown 7-of-18 shots from 3-point range, led by Sherfield’s 4-of-6 shooting performance.
Jalen Hill and Groves were also key on the glass for the Sooners, as Hill pulled down 12 rebounds and Groves finished with 10 boards to help OU win the rebounding battle 42-37.
Groves use his first half triple to help his offensive night as he finished with 13 points, the only Sooner other than Sherfield to score double figures.
But OU got buckets from six other Sooners, including six points each from Hill and Milos Uzan and a five-point night from Cortes to round out a balanced attack.
A short turnaround from Oklahoma’s win over Central Arkansas this past weekend, the gritty victory over the Gators will give the Sooners momentum as they turn their attention to conference play.
That momentum will have to sustain over a break in the schedule, however, as OU will now have to wait until Dec. 31 to open conference play against Texas.
The battle between the Sooners and the Longhorns is scheduled to tipoff at 1 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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