Bruce Pearl Determined to Take Down Deep Florida Gators Team in Final Four

The Auburn Tigers are preparing to take on fellow SEC rival, the Florida Gators, in the Final Four. This will be a rematch from the regular season. Auburn looks to avenge the 90-81 upset loss to Florida from when the two teams last faced off on Feb. 8.

Pearl knows that Florida came ready to play last time around, while Auburn had a chance to show that was nothing more than an off night.

“I think when you go through the grind of the SEC, that it is hard to have it every single night,” Pearl said. “I think Florida had it that night. [They] played great.”

For Pearl, it’s about learning from the mistakes in the loss to Florida and making the proper adjustments for the rematch.

“I don’t know that we’ve improved that much. Maybe, we know a little more of who we are and what we have to do in order to win that game, the things we didn’t do the first time.”

The Tigers will have to compete with the Gators’ depth, something that has gotten through the entire tournament so far. Forward Thomas Haugh is the sixth man for the Gators, who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and two assists in the Elite Eight matchup against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

“That is what Florida’s strength is. They’re plus-12.5 rebound margin right now. They have five bigs that they are rotating. Right now, we are rotating three,” Pearl said.

If the Gators continue to dominate the boards and control the paint, it could be a long night for the Tigers. Not to mention that the Gators also have one of the best shooters in the nation in Walter Clayton Jr. The Tigers will have to have one of their most complete performances if they want to play for a national championship.

This will be the Tigers' second Final Four appearance in program history. In their first Final Four back in 2019, the Tigers lost to the eventual champions, the Virginia Cavaliers, 63-62. They flubbed in the final seconds last time, and they’ll have a chance to redeem it.

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