Coming off a blowout win versus Oklahoma, No. 1 Auburn is set for another top-10 showdown Saturday afternoon at home against No. 6 Florida in what is one of the most important SEC title race games to date.
Florida is sitting at 19-3 (6-3) on the year led by head coach Todd Golden with 30-point wins over No. 4 Tennessee and Georgia and a 24-point win over Texas. The trio of losses for Florida have all been in SEC play at Kentucky, at Tennessee and against Missouri.
Florida is known for their elite guard play and does their damage both offensively and defensively. They are top five in points per game in the SEC at 83.4 and top five in points allowed per game at 65.8.
Florida is led by Wooden Award Finalist Walter Clayton Jr. who is a senior guard that transferred to Florida last year. He averages 17.4 points per game, 3.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists a night while also shooting 35.6% from deep. He is Florida's go to guy, and he does everything you want in a point guard whether that is scoring, playmaking or defending at a high level.
The Gators other guards include seniors Alijah Martin and Will Richard along with junior Denzel Aberdeen. These three are dynamic scorers and very good on ball defenders. Martin leads this group averaging 15.3 points per game and 2.6 assists while shooting 34% from three. Richard averages 13.4 points per game while shooting 36.2% from three. Aberdeen comes off the bench and is more a spark plug when he's in the game. He averages 7.4 points per game. These three guys as well as Walter Clayton Jr make up one of the best and most experienced backcourts in America which will be a joy to watch against Auburns experienced and elite backcourt.
Florida caps their normal eight-man rotation they run with four forwards/big men. These are headlined by starters Alex Condon who is the perfect modern day stretch four who at 6-foot-11 averages 10.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and shoots 36% from beyond the arc per game. He is a versatile big man that can switch onto guards and runs the pick and roll and pick and pop to perfection.
Next to him is sophomore Center Reuben Chinyelu who averages 5.1 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per night. These two guys will have the assignment of guarding Johni Broome all night. Off the bench they have Thomas Haugh who is another stretch four that averages 7.5 points per game and then they have forward Sam Alexis to round out their rotation.
Overall, Florida is an extremely versatile team who can beat you in many ways, but it starts with their three headed monster of guards. They can shoot the ball really well, run the fastbreak about as well as anyone and can play defense 1-5.
The top-10 matchup inside of Neville Arena between the Tigers and Gators is slated to tipoff at 3:00p.m. CST on ESPN2.
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Jack is a sophomore majoring in sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
