AUBURN | No. 1 Auburn’s 14-game winning streak came to an emphatic end Saturday afternoon at Neville Arena.
No. 6 Florida shot 48.4 percent from the floor including 13 of 33 3-pointers in an 90-81 win as the Tigers fell to 21-2 overall and 9-1 in the SEC.
"Give Florida credit," said AU coach Bruce Pearl. "They just came in here like they had to win it. That's how they played their possession. And they played harder. They played better. They played more desperately.
"We did not look like the No. 1 team in the country. We didn't act like the No. 1 team in the country. We didn't prepare like it. And as a result, we got beat."
It's AU first loss since Dec. 4 at Duke and first loss at home since Kentucky nearly a year ago, breaking a 12-game home-court winning streak.
The Gators finished the first half on a 6-0 run to lead 48-38 at the break, and then outscored AU 20-9 to start the second half and build a 21-point lead.
The Tigers were able to cut the lead to nine points on a Miles Kelly 3-pointer with 8:33 left, but struggled to stop UF's offense, which scored a season-high against AU.
Miles Kelly led Auburn with 22 points. Johni Broome added 18 points on 8 of 19 shooting, 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots, the 74th double-double of his career.
Tahaad Pettiford added 14 points and Chaney Johnson 13. Dylan Cardwell had five points and 12 rebounds.
AU struggled at the line, making 14 of 23 free throws while UF made 15 of 18. UF had a 14-3 advantage in fast-break points.
Walter Clayton led UF with 19 points on 4 of 8 3-pointers including 16 in the first half. Alex Condon had 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 10 rebounds in his battle against Broome.
"Our game plan defensively was to try to get the ball out of (Clayton's) hands," said Pearl. "And after the first couple possessions, you would never know that that was our game plan."
Auburn plays at Vanderbilt Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.