Florida Gators

SAN ANTONIO — The stakes are higher. The scene is different. The mission is the same.

The Gators seek to do tonight at the Alamodome what they did 56 days ago at Neville Arena on the Auburn campus: beat the Tigers. If the Gators can pull it off, they will play the Houston-Duke winner on Monday night for a chance to win the program's third national championship.

On Feb. 8, Florida knocked off then-No. 1 Auburn, 90-81, behind an excellent game from All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., who scored 19 points with six rebounds and nine assists. The Gators won to snap Auburn's 14-game winning streak despite being without injured guard Alijah Martin.

[Read colleague Chris Harry's comprehensive "Pregame Stuff" preview here]

The rematch has been a prominent subject this week every time UF coach Todd Golden and Auburn's Bruce Pearl stepped up to a microphone.

"Good thing is we only have to beat them one more time," Golden said Friday. "Our teams know each other really well at this point. We are going to show these guys [his players] what we call our keys in personnel probably three more times before the ball goes in the air. I would venture to guess [they] could tell you, player by player, right now the tendencies that each of these Auburn players have, what they like to run, whether it is out of bounds, half-court, on the sidelines."

In a matchup between longtime Southeastern Conference rivals, the Florida-Auburn game stands as a testament to the league's dominant regular season. The Gators and Tigers are the last of the 14 SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament left standing. While Florida is making its first trip to the Final Four in 11 years and sixth in program history, this is only Auburn's second trip to the Final Four. The first came in 2019 and ended with a national semifinal loss to eventual champion Virginia.

Pearl, who hired Golden in 2014 to be his director of basketball operations at Auburn, is as familiar with the Gators as they are his team.

Playing off the regular-season loss, Pearl has embraced the underdog role against Florida, considered a slight favorite in Vegas.

"I don't want to say this is our one shining moment, because we've had a couple, but this is rare," Pearl said. "We are still going to play that [underdog] card. We still have two more opportunities hopefully to prove that we're a great basketball team."

While Clayton is the straw that stirs Florida's championship bid, SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome is Auburn's star. Broome is a 6-foot-10, 240-pound senior who can single-handedly take over a game. He suffered an elbow injury in Auburn's victory over Michigan State in the Elite 8 but said he is ready for the rematch.

The regular-season loss to Florida is history in Broome's mind.

"That's why there's always the next game,'' he said.

Broome is averaging 18.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 blocked shots in a lineup that also features three double-digit scoring guards in Denver Jones (10.9), Miles Kelly (11.4) and Chad Baker-Mazara (12.2). Point guard Tahaad Pettiford adds 11.9 points and 3.0 assists off the bench.

In the first meeting, Florida torched Auburn's defense by shooting 57.1% in the first half and led 48-38 at halftime.

Clayton, who played all 40 minutes in the victory, finished 6 of 11 and 4 of 8 from distance in a victory that signaled the Gators as a serious Final Four threat. Florida has won 10 consecutive games and 16 of 17.

"Honestly, he just got the ultimate green light and was just shooting from anywhere,'' Auburn's Jones said of Clayton. "You didn't know when he was going to shoot it. So, I just feel like a lot of the actions, I'm just trying to make him put it on the floor instead of just giving him open shots. When he's feeling comfortable, we just need to make him feel uncomfortable."

The Gators have proven they are not a one-man team, though. He is joined in the backcourt by the trio of Martin, Will Richard and Denzel Aberdeen, and Florida's frontcourt is deep with center Rueben Chinyelu and fellow big men Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten.

The Gators advanced by pulling off a pair of comeback wins against Connecticut and Texas Tech. Golden is hopeful they won't have to rely on late magic on Saturday.

But he knows they will have to play one of their best games of the season, similar to what they did in the first meeting.

"Both teams have probably changed quite a bit since Feb. 8,'' Golden said. "But I do think our first game gives us some confidence."

Game coverage on CBS features the broadcast crew of Ian Eagle on play-by-play, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery providing analysis and Tracy Wolfson reporting. The Gators Sports Network from Learfield broadcast have Sean Kelley (play-by-play), Lee Humphrey (analysis) and Steve Egan (producer/host) courtside at the Alamodome.

For GSN stations, click here.

Finally, follow FloridaGators.com senior writers Chris Harry (@GatorsChris) and Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) for commentary and analysis on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) throughout the game. FloridaGators.com will have complete post-game coverage from the game late Saturday night and follow-up content on Sunday.