Freshman forward Jabari Smith scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and hit a killer 3-point shot after the Gators had cut the Tigers' lead to just one with eight minutes to go.
Auburn Breaks Away Late
Sunday, January 9, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
AUBURN, Ala. — They'd done a much better job taking care of the ball. They were boxing out and rebounding at a different level. The Florida Gators had made their share of mistakes Saturday night, but they'd stuck to the game plan and, for the most part, managed to follow the scouting report points well enough to be in a one-possession game, on the road, against ninth-ranked Auburn.
Cut down on turnovers. Check. The Tigers had more.
Crash the glass. Check. Offensive rebounds were basically even.
Get back in transition defense. Check. Auburn had a couple breaks, but not as many as it strives for.
Defend the arc. Check. The Tigers had just five 3s through the first 31 minutes, with none in the second half.
And the Gators, after Anthony Duruji knocked down a 3-ball, had sliced a 13-point deficit to just one as the clock approached eight minutes to go in the game.
"We were right there within striking distance after a rocky start," UF coach Mike White said.
Right there against the deepest and most talented team in the Southeastern Conference. Right there against one of the best defenses in the country. Right there against 6-foot-10 freshman forward Jabari Smith, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
And it was right there, unfortunately for the visitors, that Smith rose up, at the biggest moment of the game, and buried the Tigers' first 3 of the second half, sending the sold-out Auburn Arena crowd into deafening delirium. Four minutes and two more 3-pointers later — a pair of bombs from guards KD Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. — the Tigers were up 10 and on the way to taking home an 85-73 victory to remain unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play with an 11th consecutive win.
"That's the one they were looking for. That one really got their crowd going," UF senior guard Myreon Jones said of Smith's timely shot. "But we didn't put our heads down."
Nor should have.
Senior guard Myreon Jones(0), with a trio of 3-pointers and 13 points, was one of four UF players to reach double-figure scoring.
Three days after aiding 15th-ranked Alabama's cause with 20 turnovers and giving up 20 offensive rebounds in a 13-point home loss, the Gators (9-5, 0-2) gave the obscenely deep Tigers (14-1, 3-0) all they could handle. Sure, there was plenty UF could have done better. The Gators allowed nearly 54-percent shooting, missed nine free throws, fouled too much and made just six of 22 from the 3-point line. But they also out-rebounded the Tigers on the offensive glass, outscored AU 21-2 in second-chance points, and forced 16 turnovers that led to 22 points.
"At halftime, we said we had to stay solid and keep the momentum," Florida fifth-year senior forward Anthony Duruji said. "We wanted to make simple plays and simple reads, and not let them score in transition. That's what we tried to do."
It almost worked. Instead, the Gators have lost their first two SEC games for the first time since the 2009-10 season. True, they've come against a pair of ranked opponents (defending league champion Alabama at home and the '22 league favorite Auburn on the road), but that doesn't make the early season hole any shallower.
There were positives, though, to take from this one, especially when it came to showing poise in an absolutely electric and hostile environment.
"I thought we were pretty good," White said. "I think Auburn would have beaten 99 percent of the teams in the college basketball tonight the way they shot the ball. They hit some late-clock daggers, some contested jumpers, some other contested mid-clock [shots], and just executed really well. They were really good, especially offensively, and they're one of the best defenses in the country."
The Tigers put four players in double-figure scoring, led by Johnson, the sophomore transfer from Georgia, who scored 23 points and was 3-for-4 from distance. Backup forward Jaylin Williams scored a season-high 14 points, missing just one of his six field-goal tries for a deep Auburn bench that outscored UF 35-9. Smith had 13 points and five rebounds, with a trio of 3s, and Green Jr., the point guard and transfer from Western Kentucky, had 13 points, four assists and a couple big 3s.
Collective they had their hands full, however, with UF's 6-foot-11 forward Colin Castleton, who won his big-man matchup against 7-2 Walker Kessler, who leads the nation in blocked shots. Castleton scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked a pair of shots and eventually fouled Kessler (6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks) out of the game. He led four teammates into double-digit scoring, with Duruji (14 points, 5 rebounds), Jones (14 points) and point guard Tyree Appleby (11 points, season-high 9 assists, 4 turnovers, none after halftime) pitching in on a night UF shot 41.4 percent overall.
ForwardColin Castleton (12) did terrific work in the post, with his teammates doing well to find him below the free-throw line and let him go to work on his way 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gators led just once, when Appleby opened the game with a 3, and fell behind (for good, as it turned out) about 90 seconds later. They trailed by nine at halftime, but kept in striking distance during the early minutes of the second period, then began chipping away at an eight-point lead about five minutes in.
When Castleton posted for a hook shot with 10 minutes remaining, the Gators trailed by just two. When Duruji dropped a 3 at the 8:31 mark the Tigers' lead was 60-59 and the crowd was antsy.
"I thought we were a little fatigued tonight," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "I thought, for the first time, the grind of the season may have been a factor. ... Then obviously, you know, those guys — Wendell, K.D. and Jabari — rise up and make shots."
Enormous ones.
First came Smith's, which turned that one-point lead into a four-point cushion, but was especially deflating because the Gators had fought all the way back. Castleton, though, answered two possessions later by leaking out in transition for a layup to make it a one-possession game again at 63-61. It went back to two possession after a driving layup by Green. At the other end, UF guard Brandon McKissic had a chance to cut the four-point lead in half, only to miss a pair of free throws. That hurt.
At Auburn's end, Johnson rose up to swish a 27-footer. Now the lead was seven. Another Castleton hook brought it back to five, but two free throws by Smith was followed by a UF turnover, which was followed by another 30-footer, this one by Green, who was parked on the large Auburn midcourt logo. The lead was 10 inside four minutes, the arena was rocking, and the Gators weren't coming back from that.
"They hit a couple tough 3s," Duruji said. "They're a really good team."
And they were tested. The Gators didn't win the game, but they demonstrated the sloppy and off-point play of earlier in the week can be an outlier. If they want it to be.
