AUBURN | Auburn hasn’t beaten Florida in 10 years, a span of 11-straight losses. The Gators have won 21 of the last 22 meetings going back to 2001.
And when Bruce Pearl looks at this season’s Florida team, he sees one that’s built to give the Tigers plenty of trouble once again.
“They guard the 3-ball better than anybody because they’re not afraid to switch out and put length on the perimeter, and they’re pretty packed in, making it difficult on you to take advantage of post-ups on the inside,” Pearl said. “Some of the things that they do really well — like, they turn it over and they don’t turn it over. Well, that’s a problem for us, because when we turn it over, we get beat, and we need to turn people over to beat them. It’s really a double-edged sword.
“So those are three things like, ‘Hmm,’ from an analytical standpoint, those are things that we’re going to have to overcome to be able to beat Florida, and our guys will be prepared for that.”
Florida, 12-9 overall and 4-4 in the SEC, is led by senior guard KeVaughn Allen, who is averaging 13.0 points per game. Senior center Kevarrius Hayes is averaging 6.8 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
Much like Auburn, the Gator play with a four-guard lineup. But instead of the fast-paced, frenetic approach the Tigers prefer, Florida is much more deliberate.
“One of the ways they slow it down is with their defense,” Pearl said. “If they’re going to use a little 1-2-2 and a drop-back man, which is very uncommon to go three-quarter court zone and drop-back man. What it does is it takes time off the clock.
“In other words a team like us that likes to get it and go in transition, like after a made basket we get it down the floor. Jared Harper gets it and Bryce Brown shoots it and it’s like ‘what happened?’. That doesn’t happen against Florida because of the way they build their defense. That slows the pace down with fewer possessions.”
Auburn enters the game 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the SEC coming off back-to-back wins over Missouri and Alabama. The Tigers will play their third-straight home game Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
