The No. 23 Auburn Tigers opened SEC play with a low-scoring, tight battle with the Florida Gators at Neville Arena in Auburn.
Florida’s Colin Castleton tied the game at 56-56 with 2:08 remaining in the game on a free throw. Auburn and Florida would trade baskets over the final two minutes, but a layup by Johni Broome would give Auburn the final lead, and a layup by Wendell Green Jr. at the buzzer would solidify the Tigers’ first SEC win of the season, as they defeated Florida, 61-58 on Wednesday night.
As has been the case multiple times this season, offensive production picked up drastically in the second half. The Tigers shot just 28.6% from the field in the first half, Auburn improved by making 48% in the second half.
That uptick in offensive productivity was due in part to the efforts of Green, Broome, and [autotag]Jaylin Williams[/autotag], who each scored 10 or more points in the second half. Broome did the most damage, as he ended the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tigers struggled offensively to open the SEC slate. However, despite only shooting 8-28 from the field in the first half, Auburn led for most of the first half. Florida grabbed their first lead of the game at the 10:24 mark in the half, when Kowacie Reeves made a layup to give Florida the 14-13 lead. Auburn regained the lead thirty seconds later on a jumper by [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and would hold on to the lead until the 2:49 mark when Myreon Jones made his second free throw of the sequence to tie the game at 20-20.
The Gators led by as many as six points over the final three minutes of the half, but Auburn would cut Florida’s lead to 26-23 with one-second remaining thanks to a three-pointer by [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag]
The final shot of the first half swung momentum to Auburn’s side, especially to Green. Green, who scored only three points in the first half, surged to score 10 points over the first four minutes of the second half.
His quick start was instrumental in Auburn’s pursuit of its first lead in the half. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag][autotag] connected on a layup at the 17:23 mark to give Auburn the 32-30 lead, which erased a three-point Florida halftime lead.
Auburn will take its’ first SEC road trip next Wednesday when they visit rival Georgia for a 5:30 p.m. CT tipoff at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens.
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