GAINESVILLE — “Boogie Wonderland” blared at UF’s O’Connell Center to celebrate the final minutes of a slump-busting performance by embattled point guard Boogie Fland during this past Saturday’s rout of Tennessee.
Fland will now try to take the show on the road, make all the right moves and turn down the volume on Tuesday night when Florida visits Oklahoma.
“It was a well-received performance, and gave us a really good opportunity to play at close to our highest level,” UF coach Todd Golden said Monday.
Fueled by Fland’s long-awaited breakout effort, Golden’s No. 19 Gators (11-5, 2-1 SEC) looked like Final Four material during their 91-67 beatdown of No. 21 Tennessee — four days after Florida beat No. 18 Georgia 92-77 — to return to the Top 25 after a week out of the rankings.
After capitalizing on one of the nation’s top homecourt advantages for their 15th straight win in the O’Dome, the Gators shift focus to the rigors of the road and their longest trip for an SEC game against an Oklahoma squad that has gone 8-0 in Norman.
“Like most teams, they play better at home,” Golden said. “Their offense shows up a little bit better at home.”
The Sooners (11-5, 1-2) average 92.4 points at Lloyd Noble Center but have struggled elsewhere. Oklahoma sits 12th in the NET rankings among 16 SEC teams but also a spot ahead of Missouri — a 76-74 winner against Florida Jan. 3 to open league play.
The loss left the Gators 3-5 away from Gainesville, though three of those losses were against Arizona, Duke and UConn, ranked Nos. 2, 4 and 8, respectively, in the NET.
Against Missouri, Florida failed to establish front-court dominance during a 37-37 rebounding standstill, allowed the Tigers to shoot 45.5% and didn’t rise to the occasion in critical moments down the stretch.
“We didn’t guard well enough and we didn’t rebound well enough to win on the road,” Golden said.
The Gators’ 3-point shooting, once again, let them down. UF finished 25.9% (7 of 27) beyond the arc and remains last among power-conference teams at 27.9% after going 30% (9 of 30) against Tennessee.
The long-range shooting of last season’s Walter Clayton Jr.-led national champions was able to overcome deficiencies elsewhere.
“We had the equalizer. We had shot-making,” Golden said. “We’d go on the road, bang 10 3s and be in good shape. We haven’t proven that we can do that yet.
“It’s going to take an elite defensive performance. We have to dominate the glass. We have to make more winning plays down the stretch than we did against Missouri.”
If the Gators are able to do so and pick up a critical road win, a visit to unbeaten Vanderbilt Saturday awaits as Florida enters the thick of the conference race.
Going forward, the X-factor could be Fland. The Arkansas transfer’s season-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting was an outlier amid a season of struggle.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound sophomore, though, has been dependable defensively. Coming off a 24-point effort against Ole Miss, Oklahoma leading scorer Nijel Pack — who helped Miami to the 2023 Final Four — will force Fland to show up on both ends of the court.
“Now it’s about doing it again and sustaining the success and making sure we can have another good performance in a tough place in Norman,” Golden said.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
No. 19 UF (11-5, 2-1 SEC) at Oklahoma (11-5, 1-2)
When: 9 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma
TV: ESPN2
Favorite: UF by 13.5 points
