No. 6 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn Chris Harry

• Date & Time: Saturday, 4 p.m. (ET)
• Venue: Neville Arena / Auburn, Ala.
• Team Records: Florida (19-3, 6-3) | Auburn (21-1, 9-0)
• Broadcast: ESPN2 (Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas)
• Radio Coverage: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Stations list (featuring Sean Kelley, Lee Humphrey and Steve Egan)
• Ticket info

Projected Starters

SETUP: No. 6 Florida heads to No. 1 Auburn for the weekend’s only matchup featuring two teams ranked in the top 10 of the latest Associated Press poll. For the Gators, this marks a second straight Saturday on the road against a top-10 opponent, following last weekend’s 64-44 loss at eighth-ranked Tennessee. They rebounded from that setback Tuesday with an 86-75 home victory over Vanderbilt. The Tigers remain the only unbeaten team in Southeastern Conference play, maintaining that status by routing unranked Oklahoma 98-70 at home Tuesday. Auburn currently holds a one-game lead over rival Alabama in the league standings, while Florida sits three games back in a three-way tie for third place with Missouri and Texas A&M.

SERIES: Auburn leads the all-time series 92-83. Florida once dominated with 11 consecutive wins from 2010-18 (and 21 of 22 dating back to 2001), but since 2019 the Tigers have taken a 5-4 advantage. That includes last season’s 86-67 victory in the SEC Tournament championship game at Nashville, Tenn., where they avenged Florida’s 81-65 rout in Gainesville just five weeks earlier. In that title clash, UF center Micah Handlogten suffered a gruesome compound fracture to his left leg within the opening two minutes, and the Gators—already worn down from playing their fourth game in four days—never recovered emotionally. Auburn’s defense set the tone early, building a 12-point lead, then withstanding a UF surge in the second half before pulling away to secure its second SEC tournament crown in five years. All-SEC forward Johni Broome tallied 19 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks, earning tournament MVP honors. Seven other Auburn players contributed between seven and 11 points, as the Tigers (27-7) shot 50.8 percent overall, including 64.3 percent in a dominant second half. Florida, meanwhile, was held to 36.4 percent shooting (its second-lowest of the season) and its fewest points of the 2023-24 campaign. Fifth-year senior point guard Zyon Pullin paced the Gators with 15 points and seven rebounds. Both teams’ seasons ended five days later with first-round NCAA Tournament exits—UF fell to Colorado, while Auburn was upset by 13th-seeded Yale.

ETC: Florida holds a 3-17 record all-time against No. 1-ranked teams, including the 73-43 throttling of Tennessee on Jan. 7. This contest marks the first time UF will face two different No. 1 opponents in the same season. The Gators had dropped 10 straight against top-ranked foes before ending that streak against the Volunteers.

Tale of the Tape

With point guard and leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. sidelined due to an ankle sprain, Coach Todd Golden required a collective effort against Vanderbilt — and that’s exactly what he received. The Florida bench contributed 21 points, while backup guard Denzel Aberdeen, making his first career start, delivered an excellent floor game. He directed an offense that shot 57.4 percent overall, including 10 of 21 from beyond the arc (47.6 percent), and recorded 20 assists (UF’s highest in SEC play this season) against 10 turnovers, with only three miscues over the final 30 minutes. … Offensively, Florida’s production remained strong, but what should have been a clear size advantage on the offensive glass failed to materialize. The Commodores held UF to just 10 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points. … On defense, the Gators dropped four spots after allowing Vanderbilt to shoot 51 percent, the second-best mark by a league opponent this season. Florida experimented with a 1-through-5 switching scheme not previously used in SEC play, but it proved ineffective as missed assignments gave Vandy opportunities. Still, the Commodores were limited to six 3-pointers, below their average of eight in SEC victories.

Without Clayton, Florida managed to generate offense against Vanderbilt, but replicating that — and doing it efficiently — on the road against the nation’s top offensive team (and one of the best defensive squads) presents a tougher challenge. Clayton, who is just two points shy of becoming the 57th Gator to reach 1,000 career points, is shooting 45.0 percent this season, nearly 36 percent from deep, and a team-best 86.4 percent at the free-throw line. … Will Richard delivered one of his best performances of the year, hitting eight of 11 shots and five of seven from three for 21 points, while adding seven rebounds, three assists, and no turnovers in a career-high 39 minutes. … Guard Alijah Martin struggled in UF’s loss at Tennessee, opening 0-for-9 from the field. Those issues carried into the first half against Vanderbilt, where he committed five turnovers and briefly exited after a hard fall in a scramble. He rebounded in the second half, however, finishing with eight points on 4-for-5 shooting, plus four assists and no turnovers. … Aberdeen (7.4 ppg) added 13 points, three assists, two rebounds, and no turnovers across a career-high 35 minutes.

Forward Alex Condon, who also had difficulties at Knoxville, bounced back by going seven of 11 against Vanderbilt, adding nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. … Center Rueben Chinyelu was limited to 12 minutes due to foul trouble. Backup forward Sam Alexis (5.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) provided solid minutes, scoring five points and dishing two assists, while also hitting his first 3-pointer in SEC play this season. … Backup forward Thomas Haugh (7.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) continued his strong play off the bench, contributing eight points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in 28 minutes. Haugh is averaging 10.0 rebounds over his last three outings, with 11 against Georgia, 10 at Tennessee, and nine versus Vanderbilt. … Sophomore guard Urban Klavzar (2.8 ppg), who had been just three of 16 from deep entering the game, knocked down two huge back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half. That spark ignited a run that turned a one-possession contest into a double-digit lead, likely earning Klavzar more minutes moving forward.

The Tigers



Is Bruce Pearl the best coach in the country? That’s a fair question. What isn’t up for debate is whether he’s the premier program-builder. Just look at his track record at Tennessee and now at Auburn, where he owns a 231-120 record across 11 seasons and has kept the program consistently energized. Over the past seven years, the Tigers have gone 189-64 — a .757 winning percentage — while capturing two regular-season SEC titles (2018 and ’22) and two SEC Tournament championships (’19 and ’24). They averaged 24 wins over the previous six seasons and are well on pace to surpass that mark again. Pearl’s formula emphasizes speed, athleticism, toughness, and scoring, and he recruits perfectly to fit that style.

Offensively, Auburn is more than five points per 100 possessions stronger than the nation’s No. 2 offense. They rank 21st nationally in 2-point shooting percentage (56.9 percent), 40th from beyond the arc (37.3 percent), and excel at ball security, committing turnovers on only 13.6 percent of possessions (8th nationally). Defensively, Auburn allows just 44.1 percent shooting inside the arc, ranking 11th in the country. In SEC play, opponents are hitting only 27.9 percent from 3-point range, the best mark in the league. The Tigers also lead the conference in block rate (21.3 percent of shots in SEC play) and are second in steals, forcing turnovers on 12.3 percent of possessions.

Auburn’s only loss came against Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge, but they boast a remarkable 12-1 record in Quadrant 1 games, according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). With at least seven more Q1 opportunities ahead, they’re navigating a schedule ranked as the second-toughest in college basketball.

• .000 — UF’s all-time winning percentage in road games against No. 1-ranked teams, based on an 0-8 record. Six of those defeats came at Kentucky (1950, ’59, ’66, ’78, ’12 and ’15), with one each at Michigan State (2015) and Tennessee (2019).
• 4 — Division I programs currently ranked in the top 20 for both offensive and defensive efficiency. That exclusive group includes Florida and Auburn, along with Duke and Houston.
• minus-23.1 — Florida’s average margin of defeat in road contests against No. 1 opponents. The lone competitive effort was a 58-52 loss at Michigan State on Dec. 12, 2015, the only game decided by single digits.
• 67.9 — The Gators’ free-throw percentage in SEC play, converting 125 of 184 attempts. Only two players, Clayton (81.8) and Haugh (81.1), are shooting above 70 percent midway through the conference season, while three — Condon (54.3), Chinyelu (53.8) and Alexis (40.0) — remain below 55 percent.
• 2021 — The last time Florida defeated Auburn, on Feb. 23, with a 74-57 final score. Sophomore guard Tre Mann scored 19 points, all but three in the first half, and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore wing Scottie Lewis came off the bench to add 14 of his 16 points before halftime, helping UF build a commanding lead. The Gators trailed for just 65 seconds. Auburn, missing star point guard Sharife Cooper due to an ankle injury, opened with a 3-pointer in the first minute, but Florida responded with 11 straight points. They capitalized on eight Tigers turnovers in the opening nine minutes to build a 12-point lead, which Mann and company stretched to 22 by halftime. Thirteen minutes into the game, Mann had twice as many points as Auburn — UF led 25-8 after his jumper gave him his 15th and 16th points of the half with 7:03 remaining — and Lewis added seven points in a 90-second burst late in the period to send Florida into the locker room ahead 44-22.

Bottom Line

As difficult a challenge as the Gators will face this season.

Email Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu