Florida led by single-digits in the waning moments of the second half with an opportunity to capture a monumental road victory in a setting intimidatingly known to college basketball fans as “The Jungle.”
However, it wasn’t the Tigers who made it out alive, largely due to a Gators team that rallied once again despite the absence of one of their elite guards. This time, it was in shocking upset fashion.
Without its second leading scorer (15.3 points per game) in senior guard Alijah Martin, No. 6 Florida (20-3, 7-3 SEC) strung together an exceptional team performance to stun No. 1 Auburn (21-2, 9-1 SEC) 90-81 inside Neville Arena on Saturday.
Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. posted a team-high 19 points and four 3-pointers for UF. The Lake Wales, Florida, native also dished out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore forwards Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh followed with 17 points and 16 points, respectively, and combined for 19 rebounds.
Auburn threw the first punch and grabbed a 6-2 lead over two minutes in following a 4-point play by senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara, who was fouled while making a corner 3-pointer. However, Clayton Jr. came to play and made it evident early with a logo 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
UF faced a 15-5 deficit at the 14-minute mark of the first half before Condon dished a bounce pass to Haugh for a wide-open dunk, cutting Florida’s deficit to eight. The Gators were able to stay afloat midway through the opening period and narrowly trailed 20-16 before getting red-hot from long range.
Sophomore guard Urban Klavzar and junior Chattanooga transfer forward Sam Alexis buried two 3-pointers in a 1:09 span that cut Auburn’s lead to one possession. Just over a minute later, Richard sank a 3-pointer of his own to give the Gators a 23-22 lead with 8:38 left before halftime.
The Tigers regained the lead on a 3-pointer by senior guard Miles Kelly and held it for the next three-plus minutes. However, Florida ripped off a massive 14-2 run, with a pair of triples coming from Clayton Jr. in that span to give UF a 39-33 edge with 2:41 remaining in the first half.
Florida notched a timely stop and score with under one minute left before the break, thanks in part to a charge Condon took on Auburn senior forward Johni Broom. This, in turn, led to a made 3-pointer from Haugh that helped the Gators take a 48-38 lead into halftime.
With the rabid home crowd still behind AU, UF responded. Florida captured its largest lead of the game (21) five-plus minutes into the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers made by Klavzar in 13 seconds. For the time being, “The Jungle” was silenced.
The No. 1 team in the nation was on its heels – but not for long. Auburn went on a 6-0 run in 50 seconds, capped off by a fast break layup from Miles, that cut UF’s lead to 68-53 with 13:11 left in regulation.
AU later cut it to nine with under eight minutes left, but Haugh ripped down two aggressive offensive rebounds in one possession. He tapped the second one out to junior guard Denzel Aberdeen, who buried a 3-pointer that extended the Gators’ lead 79-67 with 7:08 left to play.
A nine-point deficit was as close as the Tigers got down the stretch. Aberdeen knocked down another deep ball with 2:41 remaining to push Florida’s lead to 16 before Haugh made a layup in the final minute to seemingly seal the victory.
It was a slow start offensively for UF. The Gators opened 2-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 from distance before going on a sharp 7-of-9 shooting stretch from the floor. Florida hung 90 on the Tigers in efficient fashion en route to a 31-for-64 (48%) outing from the field and 13-for-33 (39%) from behind the arc.
Defensively, UF held Auburn’s second-leading scorer, senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara, to six points (seven below his season average entering Saturday). Moreover, the Gators kept the Tigers to under 45% from the field and 35% from 3-point range.
Next, UF continues its road trip with another ranked opponent this coming week. Florida will head to Starkville to take on No. 22 Mississippi State Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
