Florida Gators

WHAT HAPPENED: Sophomore guard Tre Mann scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, while backup guard Scottie Lewis added 16 points and five steals off the bench, as the Gators used a dominating first half to open a fat lead and basically coasted to a key Southeastern Conference road win against a Tigers team missing standout freshman point guard Sharife Cooper due to an ankle injury. Cooper, averaging 20.2 points and 8.1 assists, was a late-announced scratch due to the injury suffered during practice Sunday. Without him, the Tigers put up little resistance and looked completely out of whack in the process early. Before the 10-minute mark, Auburn had committed eight turnovers and the Gators led 18-6, with Mann tallying 11 of those points. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Mann had 16 points, Lewis had 14, UF had shot 50 percent (including 5-for-10 from deep) and had doubled up the Tigers (just 7-for-23 overall, 3-for-16 from deep) for a 44-22 lead headed to the locker room. Auburn came out in the second half and sent waves of full-court pressure at the Gators, figuring the visitors would struggle to handle it like the last few games. They did, for a while, as the Tigers cut the lead to 15, courtesy of six UF turnovers through the period's first seven minutes. Florida straightened up, however, enough to take the lead all the way out to 24 inside six minutes on the way to the program's first win at Auburn Arena since 2017, despite shooting just 36 percent in the second half, including 2-for-10 from deep. The Tigers weren't much better (39 percent, 4-for-15 from distance) after intermission and undermined themselves throughout the game with poor ball security in losing for the sixth time in seven games. In addition to Mann and Lewis, UF also got seven points and eight rebounds from junior forward Colin Castleton and seven points and six boards from backup forward Anthony Duruji. Auburn was led by 14 points from forward Devan Cambridge. 
 
WHAT IT MEANS: That's two straight wins for the Gators, plus (for now) another Quadrant-1 victory, according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool metrics, to stack on their postseason resume. UF hasn't looked great the last two games, but deserves credit for moving on from what -- given a week-long COVID pause and three postponed games -- must have been an agonizing period dealing with the ugly home loss to South Carolina and road defeat at No. 24 Arkansas nearly two weeks later. Coupled with LSU's upset road loss at Georgia Tuesday night, the Gators closed within a game of third-place in the SEC standings. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Welcome back, Scottie. After a run of games where he just couldn't say out of foul trouble, Lewis returned to impact-player status on both ends, on his way to just his second double-figure scoring output in eight games. The last time Lewis got there was Jan. 5 when he tallied 17 in a loss at Alabama. In the seven games before Tuesday's, Lewis totaled 30 points versus 19 fouls and 13 turnovers. He was 7-for-12 from the floor, hit two of his six 3-pointer attempts, but also had four fouls in 28 minutes. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Florida doubled Auburn on points in the paint 40-20, which was a positive sign given the coaching staff's concerns of late with shot selection. 

UP NEXT: Florida (12-6, 8-5) will be back on the road this weekend when it faces surging Kentucky (8-13, 7-7), winner of three straight and moving up the SEC standings. The Wildcats, who blasted Tennessee on the road Saturday, will be well rested for their date with the Gators, what with Tuesday's midweek road trip to Texas A&M scratched due to the Aggies' continuing COVID pause.