Auburn basketball is returning to Auburn Arena on Tuesday after 17 days away from its home court.

The Tigers will be tasked with a matchup against Florida, who’s 11-6 on the season and 7-5 in SEC play.

“This year's team, you know, they shoot the ball really well. They lead the league in field goal percentage, and they're pretty solid -- really solid defensively,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said of Florida. “They're multiple defensively, so they'll play man and they'll play a number of different zones. They'll make a young team think and have to respond because they change things up a lot, so that'll be a bit of a challenge for us. As I mentioned, they block a ton of shots, and so the closer you get to the paint the better you don't necessarily look.”

Florida is a team Pearl notes he and his teams have historically struggled against. In 2019, Auburn was ranked No. 4 and was blown out at Florida, 69-47.

“It's all about matchups. I think coach [Mike] White's done a good job with his team against my teams,” Pearl said. “You know, when we won back in '19 -- we won a couple games in '19 -- we snapped a 21-out-of-22 game losing streak, and then last year we went down there ranked fourth in the country, and they just smashed us. We shot 26 percent for the game, they blocked a ton of shots, we didn't get to the foul line very much, Omar Payne had a career-high 19-point effort. Really, really dominated us down there a year ago, so I'd say we've struggled against them a bit.”

On the season, the Gators have four scorers averaging double-figures. Tre Mann, Noah Locke, Tyree Appleby and Colin Castleton off the bench have led the way.

While he’s been coming off the bench, Castleton has been a standout for Florida. Castleton is averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and third in the SEC with 2.6 blocks per game.

“He does a great job of finding a way to get you on his back, you know? He does a great job of stepping in front and just kind of smashing you on the back side,” Pearl said of Castleton “Young guys have to do a good job of beating him to the spot and figure out a way to stay on top without getting too high and, you know, match his physicality. We'll probably have to help some down in there if he gets in there deep. But he can score with either shoulder. He blocks shots, he's athletic, he's a kid that grew up in Florida and went back home after leaving Michigan.”

Tuesday’s matchup is set for 6 p.m. CST in Auburn Arena, with the game broadcasted on ESPN.

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