AUBURN | In a back-and-forth nail-biter, it was No. 20 Auburn that made the clutch plays down the stretch to pull out a 61-58 win over Florida in Wednesday night’s SEC opener at Neville Arena.

With the Tigers leading 59-58 and 18 seconds left, Chris Moore stole the ball from Colin Castleton and found Wendell Green for a driving layup to ice the game.

Just a minute earlier, K.D. Johnson drove the lane and found found Johni Broome for a layup and 1-point lead.

Auburn, which improves to 11-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference, made 5 of its final 7 field goal attempts.

"It was crazy," said Green. "We knew we just had to get a stop. That was the main thing and C-Mo — he’s been playing great all year defensively, offensively — he got a steal. I’d seen him get it and I just wanted to go as fast as I could and get a layup."

The game featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

The Gators went up 52-48 with 6:33 left, their largest lead of the game before the Tigers answered with a 6-0 run, which included a steal by Zep Jasper, who found Allen Flanigan for a dunk, and a slam by Broome off an assist from Green.

Broome had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Green had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Jaylin Williams added 13 points while Moore had eight points and three steals.

"I thought Chris Moore was so good. He did so many little things," said AU coach Bruce Pearl. "Gotta go back to Johni: Double-double and four assists, leads us in assists, in a matchup against a first-team center in Castleton. That's huge. That's a big-time message sent."

UF led 26-23 at halftime after AU shot 28.6 percent from floor, had 12 turnovers and zero fast break points. AU shot better in the second half, 48.1 percent, and only turned it over three times after the break. AU out-rebounded UF 40-28.

"The offenses in the second half have been better in the second half because I'm able to help them," said Pearl. "We've got to do a better job in the first half, but I'm glad we executed down the stretch and it was good to see KD out there making plays. He's done that for us before. Three assists, one turnover."

Auburn's 26th consecutive home win was in front of a capacity crowd.

"Playing in The Jungle is special. You need a stop, they're going to be right there with you: The sixth man, they're always with you," said Broome.

The Tigers return to action next Wednesday at Georgia.