Gators Lose at Home for First Time in Over a Year, Fall to Auburn, 76-67

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- For the first time in 375 days, the 16th-ranked Florida Gators have lost at home.

Despite erasing an 18-point deficit in the second half, its largest of the season, the Gators on Saturday fell to rival Auburn in Exactech Arena, 76-64, in a rematch of last year's Final Four. A poor first half and late shooting woes cost the Gators a chance for its sixth win in a row.

"It’s a long season. There’s ups and downs. We have been through a lot of those already this season. It obviously starts with me," head coach Todd Golden said. "Anytime you get to a point where you got things rolling a little bit and the moment you feel like you are on the right track, you get punched in the mouth. That’s what happened to us today."

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The first half saw Florida do something it had not done all season: give up a 10-0 run.

After Haugh scored the game's first points with a 3-pointer, Auburn went on an 7-0 run, with all points scored by Keyshawn Hall, before a Rueben Chinyelu bucket cut the lead. The Tigers then went on a 12-0 run, capped by a Tahaad Pettiford layup to take a 19-5 lead less than five minutes into the game.

Behind 22 first-half points from Hall, eight of which came on an Auburn 8-0 run midway through the half, the Tigers took a 15-point lead into the locker room as Florida matched its largest deficit of the season. A Sebastian Williams-Adams 3-pointer out of the break gave the Gators a new largest deficit of the season, trailing 46-28.

"I let him get going, and, you know, once he gets hot, it’s hard to stop," Haugh said of Hall. "I was working out with him a lot in LA this year, so I knew he was a really good scorer. And, I can’t personally let him go out there and get some of those shots and get into a rhythm."

From there, the Gators found its spark and came alive.

Florida out-scored Auburn, 26-8, over the next nine minutes to tie the game. Haugh scored 10 points during the run, including the tying layup. He had two points taken off after a goaltending on Auburn, which would have given Florida its first lead since leading 3-2 less than a minute into the game, was overturned after a video review.

The Gators also began to play tougher defense, holding Hall to just two points in the second half.

However, shooting woes that cost Florida in the first half returned late in the second half.

The Gators went over seven minutes without a field goal after Haugh's score with 9:07 remaining, going 0-for-8. Two free throws each from Haugh, Urban Klavzar and Rueben CHinyelu marked Florida's only points, while Auburn extended its lead to as high as eight behind a pair of buckets from Pettiford, a jumper from Kevin Overton, free throws from Filip Jovic and a bucket from Williams-Adams.

A fast break layup from Overton off a turnover pushed Auburn's lead to eight points with 1:42 remaining before Haugh ended Florida's field goal drought with an and-one layup with 1:11 left.

"I think they did a good job disrupting our offense," Haugh said. "We needed to stay in our offense more, get the ball moving side to side, and they were able to switch and clog up the paint really big. They did a really good job in the post, just sending two guys."

Haugh finished with a game-high 27 points with 10 rebounds, while Klavzar scored 12 off the bench. Star big Rueben Chinyelu's double-double streak ended with a 10-point, seven rebound effort, while forward Alex Condon was held to a season-low one point

The Gators next play on Wednesday at South Carolina with a late start scheduled for 9 p.m. Television coverage is on SEC Network.

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