Florida vs Auburn (Saturday, 2 pm)

Florida vs. No. 2 Auburn

* When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
* Where: Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
* Records: Florida (16-10, 6-7): Auburn (24-2, 12-1)
* TV: ESPN (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes)
* Radio: Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD (Mick Hubert and Lee Humphrey)

Projected Starters

Florida	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
CJ Felder	F	6-7 / 231	Junior	4.1 pts / 2.5 reb
Colin Castleton	F	6-11 / 231	Senior	15.5 pts / 9.2 reb
Phlandrous Fleming Jr.	G	6-5 / 205	Graduate	10.3 pts / 4.1 reb
Tyree Appleby	G	6-1/ 163	R-Senior	10.1 pts / 2.1 reb / 3.8 ast
Myreon Jones	G	6-3 / 175	Senior	9.4 pts / 2.8 reb

Opponent	Position	Height / Weight	Class	Statistics
Jabari Smith	F	6-10 / 220	Freshman	15.8 pts / 6.7 reb
Walker Kessler	F	7-1 / 245	Sophomore	12.0 pts / 8.4 reb / 4.7 blx
Allen Flanigan	G	6-6 / 215	Junior	7.3 pts / 3.4 reb
K.D. Johnson	G	6-0 / 204	Sophomore	12.7 pts / 2.7 reb
Zep Jasper	G	6-1 / 185	Senior	4.7 pts / 1.3 reb

The Breakdown

Auburn freshman forward **Jabari Smith** (10) is expected to be the first player taken in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Setup / Series / Last Meeting

Florida has lost two straight, both on the road, after getting crushed last weekend 78-57 at fifth-ranked Kentucky, then falling Tuesday 56-55 at Texas A&M in a game the Gators, leading by four, surrendered the final five points over the last 90 seconds. Auburn, meanwhile, was riding high for three weeks as the nation's No. 1-ranked team before losing 10 days ago in overtime at Arkansas. The Tigers since bounced back with lopsided home victories over A&M last weekend and Wednesday night against with a 94-80 home defeat of Vanderbilt, a game the Tigers trailed by 13 points early in the first half. ... Auburn leads the all-time series 89-81, including an 85-73 home win on Jan. 8 when the Tigers were ranked ninth. In that one, four Auburn players hit double figures, led by guard KD Johnson's 23 points and a nice floor game of 13 points and four assists from point guard Wendell Green Jr., as the Tigers staved off a second-half push from Gators and pulled away before its sellout crowd. Florida erased a 13-point first-half deficit and turned the game into a one-possession affair over four occasions after the break, the last being a 63-61 Tigers' lead with seven minutes to go. That's when Auburn took off on a 10-2 run capped by Green's 30-footer from the Auburn mid-court logo that rocked the house. ... UF is 5-3 against Auburn under Coach Mike White, including 4-0 home.

Tale of the Tape

Florida	2021-22 Stats	Opponent
70.1	Scoring	80.5
.423	Field-goal percentage	.449
.301	3-point percentage	.319
64.1	Scoring defense	67.1
.430	Field-goal percentage defense	.385
.303	3-point percentage defense	.308
54th	KenPom.com overall ranking	5th
70th	KenPom.com offensive efficiency	14th
56th	KenPom.com defensive efficiency	9th
281st	KenPom.com adjusted tempo	52nd
54th	NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking	7th
85th	Overall strength of schedule ranking	26th

Team Snapshots

The Gators

They let slip away a chance at a coveted "Quadrant-1" victory Wednesday and did so by failing to secure a late rebound after a big defensive stop, by fouling a 3-point shooter in the act, and by letting too much time tick away before launching a shot on a final possession that started with 19.5 seconds to go. By all "bracketology" projections, the Gators are outside the field of 68. That's the

bad news. The good news is UF will have as many as four Q-1 opportunities over its last five regular-season games, starting with this home game against Auburn, then Tuesday against No. 23 Arkansas, then No. 4 Kentucky to end the regular season. If the Gators, currently 1-7 in Q-1 games, can't win any of those games they don't belong in the tournament. The opportunity, though, is there for the taking. ... The status of forward CJ Felder (4.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg), who scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in just 16 minutes against the Aggies in his first start as a Gator, figures to be a game-time decision. Felder left Wednesday's game with a lower body with 11 minutes to play and did not return. ... Forward Colin Castleton had another really solid performance in the loss at A&M. He finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds. It's worth noting that Castleton thoroughly outplayed Auburn 7-foot-1 center Walker Kessler in the first meeting, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 33 minutes. Kessler had six points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes before fouling out trying to handle Casleton in the low post. ... The 28.8 percent shot against A&M was a season-low for the Gators. UF's top 3-point shooting guards -- Tyree Appleby, Myreon Jones and backup wing Kowacie Reeves (5.0 ppg) -- combined to make just four of 25 shots, including 4-for-19 from the 3-point line. Jones had three of those makes, however, and continued his trend back from a two-month-long shooting slump. He's hit multiple 3s in each of the last five games. ... Guard Niels Lane had his best across-the-board game as a Gator. He equaled his career highs of six points and five rebounds (three on the offensive end), plus had a personal-best three assists in 21 minutes. And, of course, he defended at a high level. For the first time in four games Lane did not start, but that did not affect his play in anyway. He checked into the game with 11:02 to go (for Felder) and remained on the floor the rest of the way. ... Phlandrous Fleming Jr. will be remembered for fouling the 3-point shooter -- yes, it was a bad play; yes, he knows that and felt awful about it -- but he was a team-best plus-6 for the game (along with Jones) after going for nine points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists over 34 minutes. He also had a team-high four turnovers. ... Forward Anthony Duruji (9.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) did not start for the first time this season. He was inserted in the second half at the 18:02 mark and taken out with 16:44 to play and did not play the rest of the game. He finished with two points and one rebound in seven minutes. Duruji, at his best and most engaged, is a high-energy, athletic player who is valuable on defense and can get extra possessions on offense. He needs to be that guy again. ... Grad guard Brandon McKissic (6.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg) took a shot to the face and left the game with 8:34 to play and did not return. He practiced Tuesday with a bandage across his left cheek.

The Tigers

Bruce Pearl and his program (now in their eighth season) are on fire, with the Tigers having won more games (118) than any SEC team over the last five years. They've done so while navigating (shrewdly and magnificently) their part in the infamous FBI recruiting scandal by working the enforcement system and taking a self-imposed postseason ban in what was set up as a rebuilding year in '21-22. The NCAA

bought Auburn's pitch, 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 Auburn team is better than 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. Whether it can fulfill its promise is another matter, but the Tigers are high-balling toward a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. ... Forward Jabari Smith is coming off a career-high 31 points in the win over Vandy. He went 10 of 16 from the floor and 7-for-10 from the 3-point line over 28 minutes. He may not be Kevin Durant yet, but he's the closest thing since, which is why all signs point to Smith being the No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. ... Kessler averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and less than a block a game at North Carolina last season. Suffice to say the Tigers are getting more from the favorite for SEC Defensive Player of the Year than the Tar Heels did. Kessler is shooting (more like dunking) 63.9 percent. His 123 blocked shots, including seven in the Vandy win Wednesday, lead the nation. ... Guard K.D. Johnson, who had 23 points and dropped three of his four 3 in the first meeting, 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 40.3 percent overall, 32 from deep and leading the sticky Tigers defense in steals with 52. He can get pretty excitable out there (maybe a little out of control, at times), but the Tigers feed off his energy. The same can be said for Green, the transfer from Eastern Kentucky who as the team's No. 3 scorer (12.7 ppg) and assist leader (5.1 pg) looks to be the favorite for SEC Sixth Man of the Year. Green's has made 46 3-pointers, second on the team, and basically has a green light to shoot once he crosses midcourt. ... Forward Allen Flanigan, son of former Auburn star Wes Flanigan, has worked his way back from an early season injury and into starting lineup after missing 12 games. ... Veteran Zep Jasper (2.2 apg) starts at point guard and is a defensive wiz. He and wing Devan Cambridge (6.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg), who is showing up on some NBA draft boards, junior forward Jaylin Williams (6.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and 6-11 Dylan Cardwell (yes, another lengthy big, this one with 37 blocks in 11.4 minutes per game) round out a deep and talented rotation.

Numbers of Note

Former UF forward **Omar Payne** (5) had his career-best game two years ago when Auburn, ranked fourth in the country, came to the O'Dome and was blown out by 22 points.

* .543 — Jones's 3-point shooting percentage over his last five games, based on 19-for-35 marksmanship that has raised his overall percentage on the season to .351.

* plus-5.2 — Auburn's rebounding margin per game, which does not bode well against UF's minus-0.5.

* 8.8 — Minutes per game Kessler averaged during his lone season (2020-21) at North Carolina, where he had zero starts for a team that went 18-11, finished fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

* 19.8 — Percentage of opponent's 2-point shots Kessler blocks when he's on the floor. That's one out of five; an absolutely stunning number that (obviously) leads the nation.

* 2020 — The year Auburn, coming off a Final Four appearance the season before, came to town ranked No. 4 in the country and left with a 69-47 blowout loss that represented the Gators' first win over a top-five team since beating second-ranked Michigan State in Atlantic City on Nov. 27, 2009. UF was led by freshman forward Omar Payne, who went 9-for-9 from the floor on his way to career highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Tigers shot just 25.5 percent from the floor, including 4-for-24 from the arc, and were out-rebounded 44-29. The Gators, who also got 11 points and 16 rebounds from grad forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., shot 50 percent and made eight of 17 from deep, half of those 3s from sophomore guard Noah Locke.

Bottom Line

Any realistic path to a NCAA Tournament at-large berth has to include either a win Saturday over Auburn or a win in two Saturdays over fourth-ranked Kentucky in the home season finale. The O'Dome is sold out for this one, so the fans figure to do their part. It's up to the Gators to do theirs. Tall order, to be sure.

Gators Calendar

Florida vs Auburn (Saturday, 2 pm)