MBB Back Home Tuesday to Take on Reigning NCAA Champion Florida

Tuesday, January 13

Norman, Okla.

8 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

Florida

Tickets From $15 - $68

Mohamed Wague shooting a free throw against Ole Miss

Photo by: Brendall Vargas/University of Oklahoma

MBB Back Home Tuesday to Take on Reigning NCAA Champion Florida

January 12, 2026 | Men's Basketball

ESPN2 Live Stats Buy Tickets Listen UF Game Notes OU Game Notes

NORMAN — After losing back-to-back games for the first time this season, Oklahoma (11-5, 1-2 SEC) plays the first of two home games this week when it hosts No. 19/20 and reigning national champion Florida (11-5, 2-1) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.

Tuesday's game will be televised by ESPN2 with Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) announcing. It will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on the call.

Oklahoma is 8-0 at home and owns a +27.5 average scoring margin in those contests. Six Sooners are averaging double figures in points at home (starters Xzayvier Brown [17.4], Nijel Pack [15.0], Tae Davis [11.5], Derrion Reid [11.5] and Mohamed Wague [10.6], as well as Kuol Atak [10.0]). All six are also shooting over 50% from the field in Norman.

No. 19/20 Florida, which posted a 36-4 record last season and won the SEC Tournament and the program's third national title, is off to an 11-5 start in 2025-26. The Gators, who were No. 1 in the preseason AP poll (dropped out last week) and were picked to win the SEC by league media, are 2-1 in conference play after posting a pair of convincing top-25 home wins last week (downed No. 18 Georgia 92-77 and No. 21 Tennessee 91-67). Their five losses have come by a total of 17 points (3.4 average), and three of them have come to teams ranked in this week's AP top six (No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 UConn and No. 6 Duke).

OU hosts another ranked foe on Saturday at noon when it welcomes No. 18/18 Alabama (11-5, 1-2) to Norman. The Crimson Tide advanced to last year's NCAA Elite Eight.

Oklahoma vs. #19 Florida
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 13
Tip Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center

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OU GAME NOTES

SCENE SETTERS

• The Sooners are looking to improve to 10-0 in games played in Oklahoma this year. They are 8-0 in Norman (7-0 at Lloyd Noble Center and 1-0 at McCasland Field House) and 1-0 in Oklahoma City (beat Oklahoma State 85-76 at Paycom Center).

• Nijel Pack, a first-year Sooner who is in his sixth year overall (only played nine games last season at Miami), scored 24 points Saturday at Texas A&M to give him 2,007 for his career. He is one of just three active players with 2,000 career points (Gonzaga's Graham Ike has 2,261 and Indiana's Tucker DeVries has 2,225). The next most through Sunday is 1,877 by Army's Jalen Rucker.

• OU's 84.4 scoring average is its highest through a season's first 16 games since 2017-18 and fifth highest in the last 32 years. Similarly, OU's 10.1 3-pointers per game are its third most through 16 contests in the 40-year 3-point era.

• Oklahoma has committed single-digit turnovers nine times, already its most such outings for an entire season in six years (11 times in 2019-20). The Sooners rank second in the SEC by averaging just 9.9 turnovers per contest. In eight home games, they have outscored opponents 147-59 off turnovers (18-7 per contest).

• Fourth-year Florida associate head coach Carlin Hartman served as an Oklahoma assistant coach for the last five seasons of head coach Lon Kruger's tenure (2016-17 through 2020-21). The Sooners made the NCAA Tournament in 2018, '19 and '21, advancing to the second round the last of those two appearances. Hartman helped recruit and coach NBA stars Trae Young and Austin Reaves at OU.

• Oklahoma is the only SEC team to start the same lineup every game this season. OU's starters have been guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack, forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid and center Mohamed Wague. Florida has started the same lineup in 15 of 16 outings (forward/center Alex Condon missed the Nov. 28 Providence game and was replaced by Micah Handlogten).

MOSER 3-1 VS. FLORIDA

• Porter Moser is 3-1 as a head coach against Florida, going 2-1 with the Sooners and 1-0 with Loyola Chicago. In 2021-22, his first season with OU, Moser's squad posted a 74-67 home win over the 14th-ranked Gators behind 20 points from Tanner Groves, 18 from Jalen Hill and 15 from Umoja Gibson. It was Moser's 300th career win. In 2022-23, the Sooners notched a 62-53 victory over Florida in the inaugural Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., as Grant Sherfield scored a game-high 22 points. That season was Todd Golden's first as Florida head coach. UF won 85-63 in Gainesville last year behind 18 points from Walter Clayton Jr.

• In December 2017, Moser's Loyola Chicago squad registered a 65-59 upset over the No. 5-ranked Gators in Gainesville. It was Loyola's first win over a top-5 team in 33 years. Current OU assistant coach Clayton Custer started at point guard for the Ramblers and tallied 4 points and 3 assists. Loyola finished the season 32-6 and advanced to the program's first Final Four since it won the 1963 national title.

SERIES HISTORY

• Oklahoma is 3-3 all-time vs. Florida and 1-1 in Norman. The Sooners have won three of the last four meetings: in the 2018 Battle 4 Atlantis first round in the Bahamas (65-60), in December 2021 in Norman (74-67) and in December 2022 in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C. (62-53).

• Florida's victories came in December 1995 in the All-College Classic championship game in Oklahoma City (76-72 in OT), in January 2017 in Norman (84-52) and Feb. 18 last season in Gainesville (85-63).

• The Sooners were not ranked in any of the six meetings, while Florida was No. 25 in 2016-17 (OU win), No. 14 in 2021-22 (OU win) and No. 2 last season (UF win).

LAST YEAR VS. THE GATORS

• Oklahoma played its third AP top-5 opponent in five games and ran into a No. 2 Florida team that drained nine first-half 3-pointers en route to a 46-24 halftime lead and an 85-63 victory on Feb. 18, 2025, in Gainesville. OU freshman guard Jeremiah Fears registered his seventh 20-point game of the season, finishing with a game-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. He tied a season high with four 3-pointers on eight attempts. Forward Jalon Moore contributed 11 points and guard Brycen Goodine eight.

• UF entered the contest ranked second in the SEC and 10th nationally in rebounding margin (+8.4/game), while OU ranked 15th in the SEC and 270th in the country (-1.4/game). But the Sooners were outrebounded by just one on the night (36-35).

OU NOTES AND NUGGETS

• Oklahoma has scored at least 85 points in 10 of its 16 games (63%), already its most 85-point efforts in a season since 2017-18. For comparison, OU's last four teams scored 85-plus a combined 21 times in 133 games (16%; nine times last year, six in 2023-24, two in 2022-23 and four in 2021-22).

• OU's top four scorers are all transfers in their first year in the program. Nijel Pack averages a team-high 15.9 points per game while Xzayvier Brown (15.7), Tae Davis (12.5) and Derrion Reid (11.4) also average double figures. Mohamed Wague rounds out the starting five at 7.4 points per contest.

• Over OU's recent five-game winning streak, junior guard Xzayvier Brown averaged 21.0 points while shooting 63.8% from the field and 53.6% (15 for 28) from 3-point range, and committing just five turnovers. He scored 21, 21, 18, 22 and 23 points in those outings. In two losses last week, Brown was held to 10.0 points per game on 28.0% field goal and 0-for-7 3-point shooting, and committed six turnovers. On the season, Brown leads the SEC by shooting 93.9% from the free throw line (46 for 49) and has made his last 24 attempts.

• The Sooners have outscored 12 of their 16 opponents after halftime. Nebraska, Kansas City, Mississippi State and Texas A&M are the only teams to outscore OU in the second half. The Sooners are +61 points in the first half this season (+3.8 average) and +124 in the second (+7.8 average).

• Reid's six highest-scoring games of his career have come in his last 11 outings, as he tallied 16 points against Alcorn State, 15 vs. Marquette, 18 at Wake Forest, 15 vs. Kansas City, a career-high 22 against Stetson and 19 Saturday at Texas A&M (to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds).

• Wague (3.1) and Davis (2.9) rank third and fourth in the SEC in offensive rebounds per game. Davis had 11 offensive boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, OU's most in a contest since at least the 1995-96 season. He recently surpassed 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds (has 1,082 and 533).

• Wague's three highest career point totals have come this season (16 in the opener vs. Saint Francis, 20 vs. Oral Roberts and 15 vs. Stetson), as have his two highest rebound totals (14 at Wake Forest and 15 vs. Ole Miss in the SEC opener). He is shooting a team-high 63.6% from the floor.

• Redshirt freshman forward Kuol Atak ranks second on the team with his 26 3-point makes (shooting .400) despite averaging just 13.4 minutes over his 15 games. He is 19 for 39 (.487) from long distance in home games, including 10 for 19 (.526) over the last two outings at Lloyd Noble Center.

• Long Beach State transfer Jadon Jones, who is in his second year with OU and first season playing, ranks seventh on the team with his 6.8 points per game off the bench in an average of 21.5 minutes over his 12 outings. Jones missed all of last season due to injury, as well as the first four games this year. The 2021-22 Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year has drawn eight fouls this season while attempting a 3-pointer. He has also made 18 treys.

PACK MENTALITY

• First-year Sooner guard Nijel Pack ranks fourth in the SEC and 19th nationally with his 3.4 3-point field goals per game and fifth in the league and 18th in the country with his .450 3-point field goal percentage.

• Pack has made at least one 3-pointer in 15 of 16 games, at least three in 11 contests and at least four in eight outings. He buried at least three treys in six consecutive games between Nov. 11 and Dec. 2, the first Sooner to accomplish the feat since consensus national player of the year Buddy Hield during OU's 2015-16 Final Four campaign.

• Through Sunday, Pack ranks second nationally in 3-pointers among active career players (367; High Point's Chase Johnston has 384), third in points (2,007) and 28th in assists (416).

• A sixth-year collegian, Pack spent his first two seasons at Kansas State (he was a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore when he averaged 17.4 points and made 95 3-pointers and shot a league-high .436 from behind the arc) and the last three at Miami, Fla. (he helped the Hurricanes to their first Final Four his junior season and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player). He has started 136 of his 137 career games.