No. 1 Auburn falls to No. 6 Florida, Tigers' first SEC loss

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 1 Auburn started fast but No. 6 Florida broke open a close game late in the first half and made 13 3-pointers to win 90-81 Saturday at Neville Arena, ending the Tigers’ 14-game winning streak.

“Give Florida all the credit,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They came in here like they had to win it. That’s how they played every possession. They played harder, they played better, they played more desperately. We did not look like the No. 1 team in the country, we did not act like the No. 1 team in the country, we didn’t prepare like it, and a result, we got beat.”

Miles Kelly led Auburn with 22 points and Johni Broome registered a double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and team-best six assists. Tahaad Pettiford scored 14 points and Chaney Johnson added 13 on 6-of-9 shooting. 

Walter Clayton Jr. led five Gators in double figures, scoring 19 points while adding nine assists and six rebounds. Teammate Alex Condon logged a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. 

Trailing by 10 at the half, the Tigers fell behind by 21 early in the second half when Florida’s Urban Klavzar hit two 3-pointers in 13 seconds.

Auburn scored six points in 50 seconds on a free throw, Pettiford’s 3-pointer and Kelly’s layup after Johnson’s steal, leading to a Florida timeout with 13:11 to play and the Tigers trailing 68-53.

Broome scored and drew a foul, missing the free throw, but getting an offensive rebound and passing to Kelly for a corner 3-pointer that gave The Jungle flashbacks to his game-winner two weeks earlier against Tennessee, pulling Auburn within nine with 8:33 remaining. 

“Just trying to cut the lead, “Kelly said. “At that moment, we needed a couple stops that we didn’t get.”

Florida’s offensive rebounding cost Auburn a chance to get closer, leading to Denzel Aberdeen’s third-chance 3-pointer with 7:08 to play, a turning point in the Tigers’ comeback bid that helped the Gators lead by double digits until the final 90 seconds. 

“The last 36 minutes of the game, I thought we were as good as you can be in an environment like this,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “Our players deserve all the credit for this victory today. Bruce and their program have done an incredible job. They’re the best team in the country. It’s an incredible venue.”

Chad Baker-Mazara got the Tigers off to a great start with a 4-point play. A 9-0 run gave Auburn an early 10-point lead before Florida outscored Auburn by 20 points over the last 14 minutes of the half.

Clayton scored 16 points in the half on 5-of-6 shooting, including three 3-pointers, to help Florida take control. When the Tigers double-teamed him in the second half, Clayton found open teammates for seven of his nine assists.

Kelly made two 3-pointers in 33 seconds and led Auburn with 12 first-half points, but the Gators outscored the Tigers 14-5 over the final 3:09, ending on a 6-0 run to lead 48-38 at halftime. 

Looking to rebound from its first SEC defeat and first loss in more than two months, Auburn (21-2, 9-1) plays at Vanderbilt Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.

“Keep doing what we do,” Pearl said. “You’ve got to embrace the grind. It’s a grind for everybody. We know that’s going to be a tough place to win.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

Postgame Notes

• With the loss, Auburn still leads 92-84 in the all-time series with Florida. The Tigers are now 3-2 in their last five meetings against the Gators at Neville Arena and hold a 58-28 advantage in the series in games played in Auburn.
• Auburn used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Jones, Baker-Mazara and Cardwell have started all 23 games this season.
• The Tigers’ filled Neville Arena with 9,121 fans which marked the program’s 66th-consecutive sellout.
• Auburn tied a season high with 22 second-chance points (vs. Richmond) on 15 offensive rebounds.
• The Tigers committed only eight turnovers in the game. It was their 13th game of the season with single-digit turnovers including three in the last four contests.
• AU placed four players in double figures led by Miles Kelly’s season-high 22 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. It was Kelly’s 62nd career game in double figures and his 13th of the season. He went over 1,300 career points on the afternoon, finishing with 1,312 points.
• Johni Broome recorded his 74th career double-double and his 14th of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Gators. Broome added six assists and two blocks on the afternoon. It was Broome’s fifth game of the season with at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. His two blocks make him the only active NCAA Division I player with 400 career blocks, while his 11 rebounds give him 805 boards in his Auburn career, the sixth player in program history with 800 career rebounds. Broome finished the day with 2,408 career points.
• Freshman Tahaad Pettiford scored in double figures for the 14th time in 23 career games including eight times in 10 SEC games and eight times in 10 games against ranked opponents. He went for 14 points on Saturday including a pair of 3-pointers. Pettiford also added three assists, two rebounds and one steal.
• Chaney Johnson chipped in 13 points on 6-of-9 field goals to go with two steals, one assist, one rebound and one block. It was Johnson’s 85th career game in double figures including 11 this season.
• Dylan Cardwell pulled down 12 rebounds, which was one off his career high of 13 boards from last Saturday at Ole Miss. It also marked Cardwell’s fourth career game with double-digit rebounds including his third this season.
• Denver Jones grabbed a season-high seven rebounds in the game.