How to Watch No. 1 Auburn Tigers vs. No. 6 Florida Gators, News, Notes

#1 Auburn Tigers (21-1, 9-0 SEC) vs. #6 Florida Gators (19-3, 6-3 SEC)
February 8, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. (CT)
Neville Arena (9,121) | Auburn, Ala.

Television: ESPN2
Play-By-Play: Dan Shulman
Color Analyst: Jay Bilas

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

» No. 1 Auburn (21-2, 9-0 SEC) closes out a two-game homestand at Neville Arena with a slugfest on both ends of the floor slated against No. 6 Florida (19-3, 6-3 SEC) on Saturday. The conference race heats up with nine games remaining in the regular season.

» The Tigers play host to their second Top 10 matchup (third in program history) at Neville Arena this season after top-ranked Auburn defeated No. 6 Tennessee, 53-51, on Jan. 25. Prior to this season, AU had played in just one Top 10 home matchup when the No. 9 Tigers beat No. 8 Mississippi State, 97-66, on Jan. 3, 1959 at the Auburn Sports Arena.

» In their last outing, the Tigers held Oklahoma, one of the best offensive teams in the nation, to 70 points and a season-low 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 30.4 percent from long range in a 98-70 rout on Tuesday night.

» AU is playing in its program-record fourth Top 10 matchup of the season. The only other seasons where the Tigers played in multiple Top 10 matchups was during the 1958-59 and 1999-2000 campaigns, when they played in two.

» Saturday’s game is a meeting of two of the four teams ranked in the Top 15 of KenPom’s offensive and defensive efficiency. Auburn is No. 1 on offense and No. 12 on defense, while Florida is No. 6 on offense and No. 14 on defense. Duke and Houston are the other two schools ranked in the Top 15 in both categories.

» Auburn improved to 21-1 overall this season – the nation’s best record. It marked the 13th time the Tigers have won 21 games in a season including the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

» Auburn moved its winning streak to 14 games, which is tied for the sixth-longest streak in program history and the second-longest active streak in the country behind Duke (16).

» The Tigers remain the only undefeated team in SEC play at 9-0. It marks the third time in program history they have won their first nine SEC games including 10-0 in 2022 and 11-0 in 1959.

» Auburn has won their last 12-straight games at Neville Arena which is tied as the 10th-longest, home-court win streak in the country. The Tigers have sold out 65-consecutive home games at Neville Arena, where they are 55-3 overall over the last four seasons.

A LOOK AT FLORIDA

» Florida opened the season 13-0, which was the program’s second-best start since 17-0 in 2005-06.

» UF’s three losses include a six-point loss at No. 10 Kentucky (106-100), a one-point loss to Missouri (83-82) and a 64-44 loss at No. 8 Tennessee. Florida beat the Vols, 73-43, when UT was ranked No. 1. The 30-point win was the third-largest over a No. 1 team in men’s college basketball history.

» The Gators are led by four players in double figures including senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. (17.4 ppg), graduate guard Alijah Martin (15.3 ppg), senior guard Will Richard (13.4 ppg) and sophomore forward Alex Condon (10.8 ppg). Clayton did not play versus Vandy on Tuesday after ankle injury at Tennessee.

» UF currently ranks fourth nationally averaging 17.5 fastbreak points per game.

» They also rank 12th nationally holding opponents to a 38.5 field-goal percentage and third nationally holding opponents to 28.0% shooting from 3-point range.

SERIES NOTES

» Auburn leads 92-83 in the all-time series with Florida. The Tigers have won three of the last five meetings between the two schools They beat UF in last year’s SEC Championship Game, 86-67, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, to claim the program’s third-ever SEC Tournament title.

» AU leads, 58-27, in games played on the Plains, but Florida holds a 5-3 edge at Neville Arena. However, Auburn has won three of its last four home games in the series.

» The Tigers are 2-1 in ranked matchups against Florida. No. 18 Auburn beat No. 19 Florida, 81-68, in Auburn in 1987 and the two teams split a pair of games in 2000 with the No. 9 Gators knocking off the No. 8 Tigers, 88-59, in Gainesville and the No. 23 Tigers defeating No. 10 Florida, 78-70, in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

» Ranked Auburn teams are 11-5 against Florida lifetime including 5-0 in Auburn. Meanwhile, ranked Florida teams are 14-4 against AU including 6-2 in Auburn.

AUBURN-FLORIDA SERIES (Last Five Games)

Jan. 8, 2022 H, W, 85-73
Feb. 19, 2022 A L, 62-63
Dec. 28, 2022 H W, 61-58
Feb. 10, 2024 A L, 65-81
Mar. 17, 2024 N W, 86-67

WELCOME BACK, 1999 SQUAD

» The Tigers welcome back the 1998-99 squad and former head coach Cliff Ellis on Saturday. Members of the team will be honored at halftime including Heath Neal, Chris Porter, Scott Polhman, Abe Smith, Doc Robinson, Charlton Barker, Adrian Person, Bryant Smith, Cliff Ellis, Mike LaPlante, Jacob Ridenhower, David Gardener, Eugene Harris, Jason Remillard, Jimbo Tolbert and Lance Bedgood.

» They finished the season 29-4 overall and 14-2 in SEC play to win the SEC regular-season championship title. The Tigers defeated Alabama to advance to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament where they lost to Kentucky. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Winthrop and Oklahoma State to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen where they fell to Ohio State.

FAMILIAR FACES

» Auburn and Florida are meeting for the 176th time on the hardwood on Saturday. The Gators are the second-most played opponent in program history behind Georgia, who the Tigers played for the 200th time in their 70-68 road victory over the then No. 23-ranked Bulldogs in Athens on Jan. 18.

» Saturday’s game is the highest-ranked matchup in series history and the second Top 10 matchup between the Tigers and Gators after ninth-ranked Florida beat eighth-ranked Auburn, 88-59, on Feb. 27, 2000 in Gainesville, Fla.

COACHING SIDEBARS

» Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is 13-13 against Florida in his head coaching career including 5-8 during his time on the Plains. Against the Gators, he is 8-3 at home (3-2 at Auburn), 3-9 on the road (0-6 coaching Auburn) and 2-1 in neutral-site games (2-0 coaching Auburn).

» Coach Pearl is 2-1 against third-year Florida head coach Todd Golden. The two teams split a pair of games last season with the Gators taking an 81-65 victory in Gainesville, while Auburn won 86-67 in the SEC Tournament Championship Game.

» The Tigers previously defeated the Gators, 61-58, at Neville Arena in the 2023 SEC opener – the first meeting between the two head coaches. Golden served on Pearl’s staff at Auburn for two seasons – as the director of basketball operations for the 2014-15 season and as an assistant coach for the 2015-16 campaign. Golden co-captained the USA Open Team, coached by Pearl, that won a gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games.

» In ranked matchups under Coach Pearl, Auburn has won seven of its last eight ranked versus ranked matchups and is 8-1 in its last nine ranked matchups at Neville Arena.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS

» Auburn has outrebounded its last five opponents. During that span, the Tigers have a +8.0 rebounding margin.

» For the season, Auburn is 16-1 when outrebounding an opponent. Auburn is one of only five teams to outrebound Duke, which is 11th in the country with a +9.0 rebounding margin, this season.

» The Tigers are fifth in the SEC with a +6.64 rebounding margin for the season and also fifth in SEC play with a +3.22 margin.

PLAYER TO WATCH: JOHNI BROOME

» A repeat All-American and National Player of the Year front runner, Johni Broome is currently on a four-game double-digit scoring streak after turning in 15 points, six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals versus Oklahoma on Feb. 4.

» Broome added more in-season accolades as he was selected to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award Watch List as well as the Midseason Top 10 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List this week.

» He has tallied 73 career double-doubles, which is currently second among active NCAA Division I players. Broome is averaging 19.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game in wins over No. 6 Tennessee, at LSU, at No. 23 Ole Miss and Oklahoma since returning to the lineup.