Auburn continues the losing streak at Florida, a place they have not won at since 1996
Bruce Pearl’s squad was outmatched at every turn this afternoon in a clobbering 81-65 loss.
The Tigers (19-5, 8-3 SEC) looked lethargic against Todd Golden’s Gators (16-7, 6-4SEC).
Everything about this game was unimpressive, time-out management is still pitiful. If you refuse to stop the bleeding, you better have players playing with their utmost intensity and effort.
Bruce and the players failed in both of those areas.
The guard play continues to be an issue
Auburn did not shoot 40% from three, or 30%, the Tigers could not even reach 20%, but 18% was what they shot.
This team has never shot well away from home all season.
If you imagined Guard play had any correlation to the final result you would be beyond correct, Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson both had terrible performances.
Aden finished his night 0-5 from the field and did not get to the charity stripe, on the other hand he did have a layup swatted to the third row because he’s scared of contact.
Tre Donaldson was not much better, four points and three turnovers from a quote “seasoned guard”. The experience Tre was supposed to have in these situations from all the close games he played in last year, is non existent.
The elite duo of Jaylin and Johni got left behind
Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome were a complete non factor all night long
After a career night in Neville on Wednesday, Jaylin Williams reverted back to his passive personality. Six points and two turnovers on 30% shooting is pitiful, especially when he was incredibly timid.
Johni, very easily, could have avoided the spear of criticism, if he didn’t shoot 12% from the free throw line. Fourteen points and seven rebounds isn’t a bad outing, but going 1-8 from the charity stripe is. It isn’t just Broome but this team as a whole has to be better about taking the free points they are given on the road.
The bench drastically outplayed the starters
To his credit, K.D. Johnson came to play this afternoon, scoring twelve points on 57% from the field. His one three pointer made up 33% of all Auburn made three pointers.
His perimeter defense continues to be up there with Denver Jones for best on the team. The cardiac cat himself showed good fight today.
Chaney Johnson was another solid contributor off the bench.
He had an ultra efficient nine points on 75% shooting from the field and made all three of his free throws. Johnson also pulled down ten rebounds the most of any Auburn Tiger this game.
Reasons not to panic
– That was an intense environment to play in
– Florida had a week worth of rest and preparation
– Auburn by nearly thirty points at Kentucky in 2019 before making a run to the final four
– Auburn is an established elite program, they will get every team’s best effort on the road
– Auburn only dropped from four to six in the Kenpom rankings
-Auburn’s offense now ranks fifteenth in Kenpom and the Defense is ranked Fifth.
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