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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn staves off Florida in defensive battle, wins SEC opener

Conference play is underway at Neville Arena. In a tight, defensive battle, No. 20 Auburn staved off upset-minded Florida, winning its SEC opener 61-58 on Wednesday night. 

In the Bruce Pearl era of Auburn basketball, it was the Tigers’ fourth win in 11 tries over the Gators. In Pearl's nine seasons, it was the fifth time Auburn won its conference opener.

“The league is going to be a rock fight,” Pearl said. “It’s kind of one we had to get.”

Johni Broome recorded his second double-double of the season — his first since a Nov. 15 game against Winthrop — with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Broome led the Tigers in points, rebounds and assists, reaching double figures in scoring for the seventh consecutive game.

“I’m very happy for Johni Broome,” Pearl said. “Johni knows how to act, feel and play like the best player on the floor.”

Both teams struggled to shoot from the field. Auburn (11-2, 1-0 SEC) shot 38.2% and made just three of the 14 3-pointers it attempted. The Gators (7-6, 0-1 SEC) shot 40.4% from the field but only made 3-of-19 3-pointers for a clip of just 15.8% from behind the arc, well below their season average of 35.59%. 

Despite the poor shooting performance, Auburn had success on the boards, out-rebounding the Gators 40-28.

“They only made three 3’s and we only made three 3’s, but we beat them on the boards,” Pearl said. “Our defense and our rebounding were both elite and that was enough for us to win.”

On the Florida bench was a coach who was all too familiar to Pearl. Todd Golden, in his first season as Florida’s head coach, was Pearl’s director of basketball operations at Auburn from 2014-16. Pearl also coached Golden in 2009 during the Maccabiah Games.

“Going up against Todd was emotional for me,” Pearl said. “I was emotional seeing him before the game. I got emotional on the radio. I love Todd like a son. He came out here and put his faith in me and his trust in me…There was absolutely no joy in beating him today.”

Wendell Green Jr. had an impact offensively, though for just over four minutes of game time. At the halftime buzzer, Green Jr. hit a deep three-pointer to cut Auburn’s deficit from six to three at the break. When play resumed, Green Jr. scored nine points in the first 4:01 of the second half. After scoring those 12 crucial points, he would not score again until the last second of the game.

“There weren’t many shot opportunities for me to take and I wasn’t going to force it,” Green Jr. said. “But once I got (the halftime buzzer-beater), that was a big shot for me, and then coming out in the second half, they told me to turn it up a little notch so we can get back going, and that’s what I tried to do to start the second half off.”

Familiar Auburn nemesis Colin Castleton, playing in his fourth game against the Tigers, was held to six points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and four free throws. It was Castleton’s worst scoring output against the Tigers in his Florida career. Last season, Castleton averaged 20.5 points per game in two meetings with the Tigers.

“Going toe-to-toe with Castleton was a fun matchup. It’s one that I’ve been waiting on,” Broome said. “I feel like I gave it my best shot and was able to contain him and we were able to get a victory like that.”

The turnover problems that plagued Auburn on the West Coast persisted throughout the first half back at home. In the opening 20 minutes, Auburn turned the ball over 12 times, just two shy of its season average. In the second half, Auburn fixed the problem, committing just three turnovers.

With the victory, Auburn’s win streak at Neville Arena reached 26 games — a span that dates back to a win over Mississippi State on March 6, 2021. Excluding the 2020-21 season that had limited attendance due to COVID-19, Wednesday’s game was Auburn’s 31st straight capacity crowd at home, dating back to Jan. 25, 2020.

"The atmosphere was great," Pearl said. "Obviously, it helped us. It was a tough ticket...I thought our fans were in the game and our guys understand it's going to be a grind this year."

With SEC play now in full swing, the Tigers will return to the court on Jan. 4, when they visit Georgia. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on the SEC Network.

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Matthew Wallace | Assistant Sports Editor

Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.

Twitter: @mattwallaceAU


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