Oklahoma Drops Third in a Row to Florida as Sooners Struggle Down Low

The Sooners failed to keep up with Florida in the paint, and as a result, they fell in lopsided fashion to the Gators.

Oklahoma guard Xzayvier Brown drives against Florida. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

NORMAN — The Sooners’ slide continued on Tuesday.

Oklahoma fell at home to No. 19 Florida 96-79 in a game that wasn’t close after the first few minutes. The loss follows last week’s defeats against Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

OU fell to 11-6 overall and 1-3 in SEC play with the loss, while Florida improved to 12-5 and 3-1 with the win.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s game:

Sooners bullied down low

Florida's Rueben Chinyelu dunks against Oklahoma. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Oklahoma had no answer for Florida’s prolific frontcourt.

The Gators outscored the Sooners 60-22 in the paint. They also outrebounded OU 43-31. Furthermore, Florida logged 17 offensive boards and scored 22 second-chance points.

Center Rueben Chinyelu posted a double-double, finishing the game with 19 points and 12 rebounds. He entered the game against the Sooners averaging 10.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.

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Florida’s dominance down low isn’t particularly shocking. The Gators entered Tuesday’s contest leading the SEC in total rebounds, offensive rebounds and rebounding margin.

The Sooners, on the other hand, entered the game in the middle of the pack in each of those categories. Tae Davis led OU with eight rebounds against the Gators.

Elatontsev shines off bench

One of the only bright spots for Oklahoma on Tuesday was center Kirill Elatontsev.

Elatontsev, who came off the bench and played 17 minutes, scored 17 points. All 17 of his points came in the second half, and he went 4-of-4 on three-point attempts. Elatontsev made five of his six free-throw attempts, too.

From Russia, Elatontsev joined the Sooners in December. He previously played professional basketball in Russia, and this will be his only season of NCAA eligibility.

Elatontsev’s previous OU career-high was six points, and he comfortably surpassed that mark against the Gators. He also logged four rebounds and three assists.

Looking to break the skid

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser argues with an official against Florida. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

The road doesn’t get easier any time soon for OU.

The Sooners will host No. 18 Alabama on Saturday, looking to break their three-game losing streak. Alabama defeated Mississippi State on Tuesday after falling in an upset against Texas on Saturday.

Oklahoma entered Tuesday evening ranked No. 65 in the NET, used heavily by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to choose its field for the tourney. 

A win against the Crimson Tide would be extremely helpful for the Sooners and their NCAA Tournament hopes, as they will almost certainly drop a couple spots when the rankings are updated after the loss to Florida.