For the 15th straight time, Auburn left Gainesville, Florida a loser as the Tigers struggled mightily in an 81-65 loss to the Florida Gators. The Tigers, who came into the game looking to break a 28-year streak of futility at the O’Connell Center, instead found themselves on the losing end of a blowout for the first time this season.
“Obviously, the prize on our head is huge,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “Coming in with the math we did…a big win and a big number for Florida.”
The Tigers’ 16-point loss was their largest defeat of the season, beating the six-point losses to Baylor and Mississippi State. The Gators’ lead grew to as large as 29 points, with only a field goal drought spanning the final 9:40 allowing the Tigers to get within 16.
“I’m glad our guys kept playing,” Pearl said. “And we were able to close it down. Nobody’s proud of a 16-point loss, though.”
Nothing came easily for the Tigers in any facet of the game. The Tigers were limited to 65 points on a 24-of-57 shooting day. Though Auburn shot the ball at a better percentage than the Gators, struggles from 3-point range, the foul line and taking care of the ball doomed the Tigers.
“Florida’s defense was really good, their length really bothered us,” Pearl said. “We didn’t execute particularly well.”
Auburn shot a paltry 17.6% from 3-point range, making just three of its 17 shots from behind the arc. After making a school record 40 foul shots against Alabama, the Tigers were just 14-of-26 on free throws against the Gators, a rate of 53.8 percent. The Tigers turned the ball over 15 times after just five turnovers against Alabama.
“I thought (Florida was) the more physical team,” Pearl said. “The physicality disrupted us a little bit.”
Johni Broome led the Tigers with 14 points in the game, tied for the second-lowest mark by an Auburn leading scorer this season. Just two games after they combined for 51 points, the duo of Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome was held to just 20 combined points, with Williams scoring just six on 3-of-10 shooting after scoring a career-high 26 against Alabama.
Joining Broome in double figures were K.D. Johnson with 12 points and Denver Jones with 10. Chaney Johnson scored nine points but no other Tigers had more than six. It was the third-fewest points Auburn scored in a game this season – only 58 against Mississippi State and 64 against Appalachian State were worse scoring efforts for the Tigers. The low-scoring game came after two straight games in which Auburn broke 90 points.
Meanwhile, the Gators shot 40.3 percent from the field, worse than the Tigers. The Gators, however, made up for the low percentage with a 7-of-21 mark from 3-point range and a 20-of-26 mark at the foul line – both areas in which Auburn struggled. In addition, the Gators only turned the ball over seven times, and Auburn scored just seven points off the turnovers.
Florida was led by three players: Riley Kugel, who scored 22 points, Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 20, and Zyon Pullin, who scored 19. The trio combined for 75% of Florida’s points in the game.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped out of their tie for first place in the SEC. While both Alabama and South Carolina improved to 9-2 in league play, the Tigers fell to 8-3. The Tigers fell to fourth in the SEC, behind the Crimson Tide and Gamecocks as well as Tennessee, who also has two losses.
“This math’s going to hurt us,” Pearl said. “But it’s not going to destroy us.”
The Tigers return home for two big games next week, as they face No. 15 South Carolina and No. 17 Kentucky at Neville Arena. Tipoff for the game against the Gamecocks is set for 7:30 p.m. CST for a broadcast on the SEC Network.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
