Tough Task vs No. 9 Tigers on the Road

AUBURN, Ala. — Alabama came to Exactech Arena Wednesday night boasting the nation's 15th-ranked team, but also a defense that, according to advanced metrics, checked in at No. 44 nationally in efficiency. The Crimson Tide, reigning Southeastern Conference champions, boasted a roster fueled mostly by guards with aggressive mindsets on offense and ball-hawking mentalit in the passing lanes on defense.

That 'Bama combination dissected the host Florida Gators, who turned the ball over a whopping 20 times, equaling the most by any team during Coach Mike White's seven seasons.

The two UF practices since included an emphasis on protecting the ball and included penalties (running) for not doing so. The coaches had to find a balance in their accountability methods while being mindful of not just the quick turn-around to the next game but also that Florida was coming out of a wicked COVID outbreak that cost the vast majority of players practice time and reps (not to mention their originally scheduled SEC opener, which was postponed).

Something had to be done, though. Twenty turnovers against a team as good as Alabama is a recipe for disaster.

"We got to do a better job of valuing the basketball," White said Friday.

And the Gators (9-4, 0-1) had better do it now. As in the next game. As in Saturday night at No. 9 Auburn (13-1, 2-0), a team that looks like the one to beat in the SEC and will be out to pad a 10-game winning streak. The Tigers are deeper than the Tide (they play 11 guys at least 11 minutes); they're more balanced (outstanding in the frontcourt and backcourt); and they're also more talented (four or five projected NBA draft picks, including the likely first overall in the 2022 draft). They'll also be playing in the ear-splitting Auburn Arena cracker box, where the home team is 61-9 over the last five seasons (five of those losses came during last season's 13-14 rebuild year), a span during which the Tigers boast 109 victories, which is the most in the conference.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

Florida coach **Mike White** is 5-2 against Auburn, including 1-1 on the road, but this Tigers team is looking like not only the favorite to win the SEC, but a national championship contender.

For Florida, this trip looms as one of the most difficult challenges of the White era. Auburn is so loaded and so in rhythm right now that the Gators could come in, play their best game and do all the right things — protect the ball; box out on the defensive glass (as opposed to giving up 20 offensive rebounds, like against Bama); get hot from the 3-point line — and still face a near-impossible challenge.

Impossible, you say? How's this for a stat? In the history of Florida basketball, the Gators have played 66 road dates against top-10 opponents. They're 5-61 in those games — that's a winning percentage of .075 — with the last victory coming 19 years ago. Not even Joakim Noah and the vaunted '04s checked the top-10-on-the-road box. For context, Billy Donovan's 19 teams were a combined 2-17 against top-10s on the road. Florida is 0-4 under White.

"Really important to match their intensity on the road," White said. "We're going to have to play with some poise because they're going to make some runs."

Auburn is led by 6-foot-10 freshman forward Jabari Smith (15.7 points, 6.5 rebounds), the projected No. 1 pick (who can play the 2-guard, by the way) in the 2022 draft and drawing comparisons to Kevin Durant. He's flanked by 7-1 center Walker Kessler, who has blocked a nation's-best 61 shots this season. Of the Tigers' two point guards, starter Zeb Jaspar has the same number of assists at Florida's starting point guard, while the backup Wendell Green Jr. has 23 more. Auburn has a role-playing shooting guard in Davon Cambridge (7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds per) and a 2021 first-team All-SEC guard, Allen Flanigan, who is rounding back into form after missing the season's first two months recovering from an Achilles injury. Defensively, they're 38 spots ahead of that Alabama bunch from across the state. The Tigers rank 6th overall on that end of the floor, including 17th in the country with steals on better than 13 percent of opponents' possessions.

They're also at home.

The task is monumental, for sure, but that aforementioned 7.5 percent means the Gators have made miracles before.

Here's when and how.

Dec. 17, 1966
Memorial Coliseum (Lexington, Ky.)
Florida 78, No. 4 Kentucky 75

Maybe the Wildcats were still smarting from the historic and culturally significant defeat they took against all-Black Texas Western in the NCAA championship game eight months earlier. UK opened the season ranked No. 3, but lost three of its first first five, with the third coming against the Gators in the SEC opener for both teams. Forward Gary Keller scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while forward Gary McElroy had 14 points and 11 boards. The loss was a third straight at home for Kentucky (despite 25 points and 15 rebounds from Pat Riley), something that had not happened since 1927.

Feb. 3, 1968
Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville, Tenn.)
Florida 91, No. 7 Vanderbilt 85
The Gators rallied from eight points down with seven minutes to play behind center Neal Walk's 35 points and 17 rebounds. As he was throughout his phenomenal career, Walk was basically unstoppable inside, putting in 11 of his 20 field-goal attempts to go with a 13-for-17 performance at the free-throw line. Forward Andy Owens added 16 points. The two teams combined to hit 50 of 59 free throws. That's two teams at 84.7 from the line. That would be rare these days.

Jan. 20, 1988
Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.)
Florida 58, No. 4 Kentucky 56
The Gators had won just twice in 27 trips to Lexington, with the last time coming in 1974. This time, with guard Vernon Maxwell on the outside and 7-2 center Dwayne Schintzius on the inside, UF rushed to an early 12-point lead then played elite defense the rest of the game, shutting down a team led by Rex Chapman, Ed Davender and Winston Bennett, limiting the Cats to just 28.1-percent shooting for the game, the program's lowest over the previous 28 games. Maxwell finished with 19 points, while Schintzius posted 16 points and eight rebounds. UF forward Chris Capers had a game-high 12 boards.

Feb. 1, 1998
Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.)
Florida 86, No. 7 Kentucky 78

For the hardcore UF fans, this one will always be remembered as "The Jason Williams Game." The flamboyant point guard and Marshall transfer dazzled the 24,000-plus at Rupp by scoring 24 points (on 8-for-10 shooting, including four of five from deep), six rebounds and four assists over 31 minutes. His electrifying floor game — pulling up in transition; gorgeous drives and finishes in traffic; an early no-look pass for a bucket that left the crowd gasping (check it out, along with Dick Vitale's reaction in the video above) — was a thing of beauty. Not to be overlooked, sophomore guard Kenyan Weaks also scored 24 points, as UF, in the third season under Billy Donovan, lived up to its billing as the nation's top 3-point shooting team by dropping 13 of 21 for the game (57.1 percent). Two weeks later, Williams was dismissed from the team — after playing just 20 games in a UF uniform — following his third suspension. Four months later, he was the seventh overall pick (by Sacramento) in the 1998 NBA Draft.

Jan. 7, 2003
Humphrey Coliseum (Starkville, Miss.)
No. 11 Florida 74, No. 7 Mississippi State 66
The Gators shot 67 percent from the floor, but needed a flurry of full-court pressure out of the gate in the second half to go on a 12-1 run over the first three minutes and take control of the game. The Bulldogs, at one point, were so flustered by the UF pressure they called two timeouts during a second-second stretch. Guard Justin Hamilton led the Gators with 22 points, with forward Matt Bonner chipping in 16 and guard Anthony Roberson good for 12. Though MSU got 24 points and 16 rebounds from forward Mario Austin, they were undone by 30-percent shooting in the second half, including 1-for-10 from deep to lose their first SEC opener in 13 years.

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