Auburn freshman forward Jabari Smith (10) is expected to be the first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Setup / Series / Last Meeting
Florida's regularly scheduled opener to Southeastern Conference play, set for Dec. 29 at Ole Miss, was canceled due to health and safety protocols. Instead, UF started league play Wednesday night at home against 15th-ranked and defending conference champion Alabama, which shredded the Gators in the second half on the way to an 83-70 victory. No. 9 Auburn, like Bama a legitimate national-title contender, has won 10 straight, including its first two SEC games, defeating 16th-ranked LSU at home 70-55, then winning Tuesday on the road at South Carolina 81-66. ... The Tigers lead the all-time series 89-81, but the Gators have won two straight, 13 of 15, and 23 of 26 dating to the 2001 season. Their last meeting came last Feb. 23, when the Gators went on the road, built a 22-point lead at halftime and left town with a 74-57 victory. Sophomore guard Tre Mann led the way with 19 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, plus three assists and two steals. UF, which also got 16 points off the bench from guard Scottie Lewis, held Auburn to just 35.3 percent shooting, including 7-for-31 from the 3-point line. ... The Gators are 5-2 against the Tigers under Coach Mike White, including 2-1 on the road.
Tale of the Tape
Florida
2021-22 Stats
Opponent
73.7
Scoring
80.3
.430
Field-goal percentage
.449
.315
3-point percentage
.349
61.7
Scoring defense
64.3
.427
Field-goal percentage defense
.381
.286
3-point percentage defense
.318
32nd
KenPom.com overall ranking
9th
48th
KenPom.com offensive efficiency
21st
35th
KenPom.com defensive efficiency
6th
139th
KenPom.com adjusted tempo
67th
49th
NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking
6th
104th
Overall strength of schedule ranking
11th
Team Snapshots
The Gators
It all went to pieces rather quickly early in the second half of the loss to Alabama. The Gators led by three at the break and trailed by just one about four minutes in when the Tide ripped off a 15-1 run that was keyed by Florida turnovers (20 for the game, equaling the most by a White-coached UF team) and the Gators' inability to gather Bama miss (20 offensive rebounds surrendered). UF lost by 13 despite out-shooting Alabama from the
Forward CJ Felder (1)
floor (42.3 percent vs. 40.3 percent overall; 34.8 percent vs. 28.1 from 3) because the Tide had so many extra possessions to score. Ball-security and finding bodies to hit and box out on opposing shots were a point of emphasis the last two days at practice, of course, but executing as much when it counts will be another matter -- especially against an active and wildly athletic opponent like Auburn. ... Forward Colin Castleton again led the way for the Gators in the Bama game, with 19 points and seven rebounds, but he also had four turnovers. He was one of three starters, in fact, with at least four turnovers. Another starter, guard Brandon McKissic, had three, as did reserve wing Phlandrous Fleming Jr., who was clearly feeling the leftover effects of the COVID that ravaged the team over the holidays. ... Castleton has worked his field-goal percentage up over 50 percent (.526) and is shooting his free throws better than earlier in the season when he sat at 51.5 percent through five games. He's still 14 percent below his '20-21 numbers (.635 vs. .781), which is significant considering he has shot nearly twice as many free throws as anyone on the team. ... Fleming (10.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) went 0-for-6 from the floor in his 16 achy minutes. He was playing really well going into the break, having averaged 15.6 points the previous three games and made nine of 15 3s the previous four games. ... McKissic and forward Anthony Durujicombined for just three field-goal attempts against Alabama (McKissic with two, Duruji with one). That's a staggering stat, considering they combined to go 3-for-3 from the floor; even more staggering considering all three makes were 3-pointers. Whether that speaks to their hesitation to shoot or the team's number of turnovers (both, probably) those numbers have to change for the sake of balance on offense. ... Duruji is now 10-for-22 from the arc, or 45.5 percent, which is second on the team. ... The team's best 3-point percentage belongs to reserve forward CJ Felder, who came off the bench to tally season highs of 12 points and six boards. Felder went 5-for-10 from the floor and 2-for-3 from long range. He came from Boston College as a career 26.7-percent shooter from distance. He's at 10-for-21 this season, which is 47.6 percent, as well as a team-best 57.4 on all shots. ... Point guard Tyree Appleby(1-for-6 shooting, 5 assists, 4 turnovers) had another tough outing, especially navigating the passing lanes against an aggressive bunch of Bama guard. It wasn't just Appleby, obviously, who was careless with the ball, but he's the point guard, and after another basically break-even assist/turnover game his ratio sits at 42/32 for the season. ... Early in the second half, guard Myreon Jones was 0-for-5 from the 3-point line, making him 4-for-32 over the last six games. He then banged three of four in one second-half stretch to help the Gators close a 15-point deficit to five, so maybe that was the spell needed to snap out of his shooting slump. He arrived from Penn State as a career 37.6-percent shooter from deep. He's at 29.3 as a Gator. The UF coaches believe those numbers will even out. ... Backup center Jason Jitoboh (3.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg), with six points against Alabama, has averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds over the last four games.
The Tigers
Coach Bruce Pearl has it going on, boy, having won more games than any SEC team over the last five seasons. And now the NCAA clouds have been lifted above the Loveliest Village on the Plain after the Tigers worked the enforcement system by announcing (in anticipation of a rebuilding season amid the COVID pandemic) they were taking a self-imposed postseason ban in '21-22. The
Walker Kessler (13)
NCAA bought it, the Tigers ultimately were set free, and now they are clear for a run at both a conference and national championship. Yes, they're that good. Pearl has a business model (same as he had at Tennessee) of recruiting fast and athletic players and playing to that speed and athleticism. This is Auburn's best team since the 2018-19 squad that became the first in program history to reach the Final Four when it lost by a point to eventual-NCAA champion Virginia ... Auburn's lone loss of the season was a 115-109 double-overtime setback against Connecticut in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 26. Since then, the Tigers have beaten the likes of Loyola Chicago, UCF, Syracuse and Nebraska. ... Forward Jabari Smith is drawing comparisons to a raw Kevin Durant, with serious buzz placing him above the likes of Duke's Paolo Banchero and Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren as the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Smith has an inside-outside game, evidenced by his split-shooting percentages of 43.3 overall and 44.8 from the 3-point line. When he works inside and gets fouled, Smith makes his free throws (.844), also. He's not a great rebounder yet, but he's played just 15 collegiate games and is merely scratching the surface of his potential. ... Between Smith and 7-foot-1 center Walker Kessler, the former McDonald's All American and transfer from North Carolina, the Tigers have a front court as formidable as any in the country. Kessler has been a praying mantis on defense, swatting away an NCAA-best 61 shots. Offensively, he's at 58.8 percent from the floor and already has erased the label of underachiever some hung on him at UNC. He had 11 blocks in Auburn's win over LSU last week. ... Guard K.D. Johnson was an OK player on a bad Georgia team last season. Now he's the third-leading scorer on one of the best teams in the country, shooting 39 percent overall, 31 from deep and leading the sticky Tigers defense in steals with 30. ... Guard Devan Cambridge has modest statistics, but he's another one of those live athletic bodies that can run and defend all day. He shows up on NBA draft boards, as well. ... Ditto, guard Allen Flanigan, son of the former Auburn star Wes Flanigan, who is in the scouts' crosshairs. He underwent Achilles surgery in September, but made his season debut just in time for the start of SEC play. He had 10 points and hit two of three 3s in 28 minutes against LSU and also had three steals. ... Veteran point guard Zep Jasper doesn't have to score or rebound, but he runs the team (42 points, just 12 turnovers in nearly 25 minutes per game). When he gives way, he yields to Wendell Green Jr., the transfer from Eastern Kentucky, who is the team's No. 2 scorer at 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and team-high 65 assists, plus a 36.6-percent shooter from 3. ... This team is deep with virtually no weaknesses.
Numbers of Note
Former Georgia star and SEC Player of the Year Alec Kessler (33) was the uncle of current Auburn standout center Walker Kessler.
* .203 — Percentage of Auburn defensive possessions that Kessler blocks a shot. That's amazing. It's also why Kessler ranks No. 1 in the country in that statistic, according to KenPom. In contrast, Castleton is a very good rim-protector for the Gators (with 31 blocks on the season), but ranks 49th nationally with a rejection on 9.1 percent of opposing possessions.
* .733 — Auburn's overall winning percentage the last five seasons, based on a 107-39 record. That's the best in the SEC. For context, Kentucky is 101-43, which converts to.701.
* 5 — Teams that rank ahead of Auburn (6th) in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. Two of them are in the SEC. The top five: 1) LSU; 2: Tennessee; 3) VCU; 4: Iowa State; 5) Texas Tech.
* 1990 — The year Kessler's uncle was voted SEC Player of the Year, as well as overall athlete of the year. Kessler garnered All-America status in his final three seasons at Georgia, where the 6-11, 230-pound forward scored what was then a school-record 1,788 points and was taken 12th overall in the NBA Draft that year by the Miami Heat. Kessler's professional career never matched his collegiate one. He retired after five seasons, then graduated from Emory University Medical School and became an orthopedic surgeon, settling his practice in Pensacola. Alec Kessler died of heart attack while playing pick-up basketball in his home town of Gulf Breeze in 2007. He was 40.
* 2001 — The last year Florida played three straight games against ranked SEC opponents, like the string the Gators are on right now. UF beat 15th-ranked Tennessee on the road, then 12th-ranked Ole Miss and 14th-ranked Alabama at home.
Bottom Line
Round 2 of a brutal run to open SEC play. And this one will be the toughest of the trio.
