Huge Test for Mike White & The Gators

#14/12 Florida (6-0/0-0 SEC) vs. Oklahoma (6-1/0-0 Big 12)

Lloyd Noble Center (11,562) | Norman, Oklahoma

Game 7 | Dec. 1, 2021 | 8 p.m. ET

Head Coach Mike White and the Florida Gators are off to a 6-0 start as they prepare for a showdown on the road vs. Oklahoma.

Florida enters Sunday’s showdown at Oklahoma with an unblemished 6-0 mark, looking to push its record to 7-0 for the sixth time in program history and the first since 2012-13. The Gators’ AP #14 rank marks the team’s highest since opening the 2019-20 season with a #6 ranking.

• The Gators have won two of three all-time against Oklahoma, including the lone contest in Norman, an 84-52 victory in the Jan. 2017 SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

• UF’s defense has made its presence felt in the early going, limiting five of its first opponents to 61 points or fewer. The Gators have held two opponents to 45 points, the first time Florida has multiple opponents to 45 points or fewer in a season since 2014-15.

• Florida leads the SEC in 3-point fi eld goal percentage defense at .250, while the teams’ 55.7 points allowed and 6.0 blocked shots rank second in the SEC.

• Florida battled back from a double-digit deficit to knock off Ohio State on Tyree Appleby’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off . Phlandrous Fleming led the Florida attack with 19 points and four steals, supported by Colin Castleton’s double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

• The Gators rode a strong late-first half performance to victory against Cal, outscoring the Bears 29-10 over the final 8:10 of the opening frame. Four Gators scored in double figures, led by Colin Castleton’s 16 and Tyree Appleby’s 15.

• The Gators used a 13-0 second-half run to spark the win against 20th-ranked FSU, and Colin Castleton earned SEC Player of the Week honors with a 15-point, 16-rebound, six-blocked shot performance.

• After playing with no seniors on their roster last season, the Gators have six senior or graduate players on the active roster this season.

• The Gators are one of six teams nationally with a win in each of the past four tournaments and the only Southeastern Conference team to reach every NCAA Tournament in that span (since 2017).

• The Gators added a quartet of veteran impact transfers who have a combined 3,882 career points scored at their previous schools. Florida’s 2021 class of incoming transfers rates in the nation’s top two in career points (Arkansas, 4,125 points, 6 players).

• Guards Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Charleston Southern) both bring conference defensive player of the year and first-team all-conference credentials to Gainesville as graduate transfers.

• The Gators also added a pair of undergrad transfers in senior guard Myreon Jones (Penn State) and junior forward CJ Felder (Boston College). Jones led the Nittany Lions in scoring last season with 15.3 points per game and averaged 2.4 3-pointers made, while Felder posted 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season.

• UF also brings in two freshmen guards in ESPN Top 100 prospect Kowacie Reeves (Macon, Ga.) and pure shooting lefty Elijah Kennedy (Virginia Beach, Va.), along with junior college transfer Tuongthach Gatkek.

• The Gators will play at least 10 games against preseason AP top 25 opponents this season, including nonconference battles vs. Florida State, Ohio State and Maryland.