OGT-Florida vs. #12 Auburn 3/17/2024 1:00pm

Florida 24-10/11-7 SEC vs. #12 Auburn 26-7/13-5 SEC
Bridgestone Arena (19,395) | Nashville, Tenn. | SEC Tournament Championship Game
Game 35 | March 17, 2024 | 1 p.m. EDT

BROADCAST INFO
ESPN | ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Tom Hart
Analyst: Jimmy Dykes
Sideline: Marty Smith

Gators Sports Network from LEARFIELD
Play-by-Play: Sean Kelley
Analyst: Lee Humphrey
Producer/Engineer: Steve Egan

 

HEAD COACHES
Todd Golden
40-27 | 2nd season at UF
97-63 | 5th season overall

Bruce Pearl
199-118 | 10th season at Auburn
661-263 | 29th season overall

MATCHUP BASICS
All-Time Series: 83-91
In SEC Tournament: 4-4
Series under Golden: 1-1
Last Meeting: W,81-65, 2/10/24 (Home)

 

FLORIDA POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
4 Tyrese Samuel F 6-10 239 Gr. 27.0 14.0 7.6 1.8 ast
3 Micah Handlogten C 7-1 235 So. 19.5 5.5 7.1 .622 fg%
0 Zyon Pullin G 6-4 206 Gr. 33.5 15.6 3.9 5.0 ast
1 Walter Clayton Jr. G 6-2 195 Jr. 31.0 17.3 3.6 2.6 3fg
5 Will Richard G 6-4 206 Jr. 29.5 11.5 4.0 2.0 3fg

AUBURN POSSIBLE STARTERS
# Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Min. Pts. Reb. Misc.
2 Jaylin Williams F 6-8 245 Gr. 24.2 12.6 4.4 2.0 ast
4 Johni Broome F 6-10 240 Jr. 24.8 16.2 8.3 2.2 blk
10 Chad Baker-Mazara F 6-7 180 Jr. 22.3 10.3 3.8 2.2 ast
1 Aden Holloway G 6-1 178 Fr. 20.3 7.6 1.5 1.5 3fg
12 Denver Jones G 6-4 205 Jr. 21.8 8.8 2.0 1.4 3fg

 

NUMBERS OF NOTE
5​

Florida has had five double-figure scorers in all three SEC Tournament
victories this week, including five players with 15+ points in the
semifinal win, led by Denzel Aberdeen’s career-high 20.

4​

Florida has won four SEC Tournament titles in program history:
2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014. Florida makes its 11th SEC Tournament
championship game appearance on Sunday.

20​

Denzel Aberdeen became the seventh different Gator to post a
20-point outing this season with his breakout performance vs. Texas
A&M in the semifinals.

 

THE TIP-OFF​

• Florida competes in the SEC Tournament championship game for the 11th time in program history and seeks its fifth SEC Tournament title. The Gators last appeared in the final in 2014, where UF capped an 18-0 regular season with the tournament crown.

• Florida has reached the SEC Tournament game by scoring 94.0 points per game through its first three wins, featuring five double-figure scorers in each contest. The Gators have shot .429 from 3-point range with 9.0 3-point field goals per game and have averaged 27.0 points at the free throw line.

• First-team All-SEC honoree Zyon Pullin ranks second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.90) and is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season number of the 2000s.

• Second-team All-SEC guard Walter Clayton Jr. has the #8 scoring season (587) and #9 most 3-point field goals made (88) in a season in Florida history. His 14 games with 20+ points, including the first two SEC Tournament games here in Nashville, are the most by a Gator since Anthony Roberson had 14 in 2003-04.

• In the frontcourt, Florida has gotten 11 double-doubles from AP second-team All-SEC forward Tyrese Samuel, the most by a Gator since Al Horford’s 16 in 2006-07, and a 18.0% offensive rebounding percentage from Micah Handlogten, which ranks fourth in the nation. SEC All-Freshman big man Alex Condon leads the league’s freshmen in rebounding (6.3) and blocked shots (41.)

2023-24 HIGHLIGHTS​

• Florida lit the scoreboard for 105 points in the home win vs. 16th-ranked Alabama, the Gators’ most all-time in regulation vs. a ranked opponent. Will Richard led the attack with 23 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 22,
while Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel scored 19 points each.

• Tyrese Samuel’s career-high 28 points led the Gators in the win vs. Missouri. Samuel (10 rebounds) and Micah
Handlogten (12 points/12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles, while Zyon Pullin added 21 points.

• Florida’s win vs. #12 Auburn marked the Gators’ 15th in a row at home vs. the Tigers. Riley Kugel’s 22 points led the Gators, along with 20 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 19 by Zyon Pullin.

• The Gators win at 10th-ranked Kentucky featured a trio of 20-point scorers in Walter Clayton Jr. (23), Tyrese Samuel (22) and Zyon Pullin (21). Clayton’s 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds left in regulation forced overtime.

• Micah Handlogten posted 23 points and 17 rebounds in the home win vs. Georgia, while Zyon Pullin scored seven of his 20 points in the overtime period. The Gators completed the sweep in Athens for a 10th straight win
vs. Georgia behind 21 points from Walter Clayton Jr. and 17 by Thomas Haugh.

• Will Richard led the Gators with 23 points and nine rebounds in the win vs. Mississippi State as Florida committed a season-low seven turnovers. Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. each added 15 points.

• Zyon Pullin scored 22 and Tyrese Samuel posted 21 points and 11 rebounds in the Gators’ double overtime victory vs. Michigan in Charlotte. Pullin’s 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds remaining in OT forced the final session.

• The Gators topped Pitt in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off behind 28 points from Walter Clayton Jr., a 20-point, 10-rebound performance from Tyrese Samuel and a 24-to-8 assist-to-turnover showing as a team.

 

FLORIDA IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
• All-Time Record: 49-52

• Championships: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014)

• Runner-Up: 6 (1934, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2011, 2013)

• Florida notched its first SEC Tournament win since 2021, advanced to
the semifinals for the first time since 2019 and now plays for the SEC.

• The Gators’ last trip to the final resulted in a 61-60 win vs. Kentucky
that capped a perfect 18-0 SEC season with an SEC Tournament crown.

• Florida and Auburn have split the previous four SEC Tournament
meetings, most recently an Auburn win in the 2019 semifinal.

OPPONENT’S LAST 5 GAMES
March 2 Mississippi State W 78-63
March 5 at Missouri W 101-74
March 9 Georgia W 92-78
March 15 vs. South Carolina W 86-55
March 16 vs. Mississippi State W 73-66

SEC TOURNAMENT VS. AUBURN (4-4)
March 4, 1981 Birmingham W/OT 50-48
March 8, 1985 Birmingham (semifinals) L 42-43
March 5, 1998 Atlanta W 68-64
March 10, 2000 Atlanta L 70-78
March 7, 2002 Atlanta W 81-63
March 13, 2009 Tampa L 65-68
March 11, 2010 Nashville W 78-69
March 16, 2019 Nashville (semifinals) L 62-65

LAST 20 VS. AUBURN (15-5)
March 13, 2009 SEC L 58-61
Feb. 18, 2010 H W 78-70
March 11, 2010 SEC W 78-69
Jan. 20, 2011 A W 45-40
Feb. 21, 2012 H W 63-47
Feb. 16, 2013 A W 83-52
Jan. 18, 2014 A W 68-61
Feb. 19, 2014 H W 71-66
Jan. 15, 2015 H W 75-55
Jan. 23, 2016 H W 95-63
Feb. 14, 2017 A W 114-95
Feb. 24, 2018 H W 72-66
Feb. 5, 2019 A L 62-76
March 16, 2019 SEC L 62-65
Jan. 18, 2020 H W 69-47
Feb. 23, 2021 A W 74-57
Jan. 8, 2022 A L 73-85
Feb. 19, 2022 H W 63-62
Dec. 28, 2022 A L 58-61
Feb. 10, 2024 H W 81-65