Steven Pearl knew how much it meant for Auburn to beat No. 16 Florida on Saturday. It’s possible that his players didn’t know how big the win was.
“I never mentioned to the guys that we hadn’t won here in 30 years,” Pearl said.
Yes, somehow it was Auburn’s first win in Gainesville since 1996, when the Tigers pulled out a 73-70 victory on the Gators’ home court. It was also revenge for last season, when Todd Golden’s team put two losses on Auburn’s record, including the defeat in the NCAA semifinals, before the Gators went on to win the national title two days later.
Auburn rebounds from Florida rally in win
It wasn’t easy, although Keyshawn Hall made it look that way in the first half, pacing Auburn to a 43-28 lead at the break with 22 points in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers extended the lead to 18 points to start the second half on a three-pointer by Sebastian Williams-Adams, but the Gators fought back, tying the game twice with less than 10 minutes to go, but Auburn never trailed and staved off the Florida rally with clutch play by KeShawn Murphy and Tahaad Pettiford.
After the Gators tied it at 56 with 8:09 to play, Auburn went on a 6-0 run that was capped off by a Pettiford jumper to give the Tigers a six-point lead with 4:24 to play. In th end, it. was a 76-67 victory for Auburn.
“That’s an unbelievable win for our ballclub,” Pearl said. “That might be the best road win we’ve ever had as a program.”
Pearl saw it as a massive sign of his team coming together.
“Our team three weeks ago wouldn’t have won this game,” he said. “It speaks to the growth of our team, our growth as a staff and our kids just willing to stick together.”
Auburn improves to 13-7 (4-3 SEC) and returns to Neville Arena on Wednesday when the Tigers host Texas.