The Auburn Tigers suffered a disappointing 78-69 loss Thursday versus the Florida Gators in the first round of the SEC tournament. The loss left the Tigers 0-3 in SEC tournament games at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Auburn began the second half strong scoring 8-0 and bringing the score to 40-39, the closest of the game.
"I think we just missed wide open looks," said Frankie Sullivan, sophomore guard. "We was wide open half the time we shot the basketball. It just wouldn't go down for us tonight." Florida led by nine points at the half. In the first half the Gators led by as much as 14 points when Alex Tyrus, junior forward, dunked to increase the lead.
Auburn continued battling to come out ahead, but was unsuccessful.
Sullivan said he felt he had to take the offensive load, but focused more on winning than individually scoring. Sullivan scored a career-high 27 points for Auburn. "Well, I'm very proud of my team--the way we competed tonight against a very talented Florida team," said head coach Jeff Lebo. "But, you know, obviously, one of the things that we have to do is shoot the ball well from three. That didn't happen tonight."
The Gators scored 21 of their 78 points from behind the 3-point line. "(Florida) set a lot of ball screens," said Dewayne Reed, senior guard. "We just wanted to fight through and get over the ball screen and try to prevent the dunking from happening." Big scorers for Auburn included Sullivan, Reed and Lucas Hargrove.
Lebo said before the game one advantage Florida had was the balance of the team. He said the Gators usually have several players earning double figures in games. Three of Florida's players finished the game with double-digit points; however, Tay Waller, senior guard, in his first scoreless game of the season. Waller has averaged 17.3 points per SEC game. His previous low was three points against Kentucky.
"He was heartbroken after the game," said Lebo. "It's hard to say something to somebody after a game like that. But, that's what I told him. I'm proud of him. He's given us a lot of great memories."
Lebo said shooting in these types of venues is not easy, but with Waller's record it was still an unusual situation for him to not have scored in the game. Lebo also said he would be meeting with Auburn Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs to discuss the season. This was Florida's second victory this year over Auburn. The last 70-78 win was on Feb. 18 in Gainesville. The Gators face Mississippi State on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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