Despite the fact that Todd Golden, a former Auburn assistant under Bruce Pearl from 2014 to 2016, is coaching the Gators, Bruce Pearl stated on Friday that he hopes to “beat the pants off” Florida.
However, the Gators were the ones taking the battering on Saturday afternoon at Florida’s Stephen C. O’Connell Center, defeating the 12th-ranked Tigers 81-65 to drop Auburn to 19-5 (8-3 SEC).
OVERVIEW: “I’d like to congratulate Florida. They were excellent and really organized. They had greater physicality. They handled the ball with great care; they did not turn it over. We didn’t play as well defensively. There was just one theft left. We give up the ball 13 or 14 times in a game, and we score when this happens. We made just seven mistakes. Thus, our protective actions did not cause them to get disturbed. I thought there could be more pressure on Florida to win this game if we could stay close; clearly, they had to win. Coming in with the numbers and knowing where we stand in the NET, or whatever, is the big reward on our heads, It’s a significant victory.
They play with a lot of assurance. Though I expected both halves to start strong, I didn’t anticipate it would elude us as much as it did. Give all the credit to Florida. To hold my club accountable for not accomplishing this would be to deprive one of the league’s top five teams of their accomplishment. After going through everything and visiting nearly everyone, I believe Florida will be within the top five.
REGARDING AUBURN’S DEFENSE STRUGGLES: “We game-planned to do a few things that we didn’t actually do.” Second, Florida has excellent guards. Really, really good. superior to any person’s guards. I’m not sure what guard is superior to Zyon Pullin in a one-on-one situation when he plays.
Tell me which player, in a one-on-one encounter, is superior to Pullin. Tell me who scores goals more efficiently than Clayton. I’m not sure how frequently they will lose those matchups. After that, Kugel is now playing better when he comes off the bench. The majority of such contests will be won by him. Large and athletic is the front line. They possess a few parts.
REGARDING AUBURN’S TROUBLES IN GAINESVILLE: “Are you aware of the costs I incur? Here is where I would like to check my record. Would you mind, Marlene? But my first two years at Tennessee, when Dane Bradshaw and his team defeated the Florida Gators twice out of three, are what I’m paying for. It is something that is rarely discussed, so I have to bring it up occasionally.
