The Gators came into Saturday’s game having won 9 of their last 10 and it seemed like they were gaining nothing but momentum but that came to a crashing halt against the Auburn Tigers when the offense sputtered and the defense wasn’t tight enough as the Tigers won by a score of 76-67. This game was a tale of two halves with the Tigers jumping out early with a 15-point first half lead with the Gators battling back in the second frame to eventually tie. Unfortunately for Florida, as has been the case in the few times they have been in close games this year they haven’t been able to execute and the Tigers who have a lot more individual shot creation were able to make plays when the going got tough when the Gators couldn’t. At one point Florida went 7:40 of action without making a field goal, and even though Auburn wasn’t able to run away with the game they were still able to build enough of a lead that the Gators couldn’t come back from. Perhaps nothing embodied the game more than in the final minute when the Gators were desperate for a three and had three separate attempts missed, all offensive rebounds that gave extra opportunities while being unable to capitalize. With the loss the Gators fall to 5-2 in the SEC standings and fall out of first place with the surprising Texas A&M Aggies now holding the top spot.
Forward Stars
This game was all about the forwards as Florida’s Thomas Haugh and Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall were the leaders for their respective teams. From the opening tip it was all Hall as he scored Auburn’s first 10 points before it felt like the Gators could even blink, picking on whatever matchup he wanted and either waltzing to the rim or hitting a jumper. Finishing with 24 points and slowing down in the second he did eventually cool off, but it was his one-man show in the opening minutes that gave Auburn the lead that was really the difference in this game. Punching back was Thomas Haugh, Florida’s best and most consistent player who had a bunch of highlight reel plays to go along with his tremendous production totalling 27 points and 10 rebounds. For the Gators, some of their rigidness defensively was shown as they don’t really have anyone capable of matching up with a 6’7”, 240 pound ball handler like Hall as he had his way with Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and whatever guard tried their hand at keeping with him–but fortunately there aren’t too many guys like this in the league.
Offensive Struggles
Florida’s 67 points is one of their worst outputs of the season, also evidenced by 37% from the field, 26% from three, and 11 turnovers. They simply weren’t able to manufacture any quality looks and relied on isolation plays from Thomas Haugh and Urban Klavzar to create anything in the half court, and Auburn’s length across the 2-4 positions really gave Florida issues. Gameplanning around throwing the ball inside and attempting to dominate the post, when that wasn’t there the Gators didn’t have another action to go to. It’s also important to note that entering Saturday’s game Auburn was 77th in the country in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric so it wasn’t some kind of dominant defense that turned Florida’s water off–it was a below average one. Florida will go back to the drawing board and look to see how they can try to create some higher value possessions.
New Circle Of Trust
Todd Golden has had nothing but patience for Xaivian Lee this season, but eventually something has to give and while Lee’s minutes have steadily dropped it was even more exaggerated against Auburn where he played just 15, and was pretty much off the floor for the entire second half until he got in during the final minute when the Gators were set to just launch up prayers from three. One of the final straws was two nearly identical turnovers on routine point to wing passes that were easily picked off by Auburn, turning into transition opportunities on the other end. As Lee’s minutes have dropped off, Urban Klavzar has consistently jumped in and played well and this was the case once again. Klavzar finished with 12 points and 3 assists, a steady presence that has been what the Gators have needed offensively. It appears Florida will continue to start Lee, but he hasn’t played in crunch time in quite a while and looks to be out of the circle of trust.
Final Thoughts
Throughout this season whenever the Gators have played poorly offensively their offensive rebounding has covered up for it, but the game against Auburn proved that even the best offensive rebounding team in the league can’t cover up for all bad offensive performances. Florida’s inability to create a quality look in the half court as well as their poor spacing which they have willingly invited to have a size advantage bit them against Auburn, and it will be interesting to see if any other teams in the SEC will be able to take anything from this and punish the Gators further. The way Florida has built their roster and style of play has still resulted in more wins than losses, but the performance against Auburn shows what can happen when it’s not executed.