Takeaways from Auburn’s Big Win Over Florida

On Saturday, the Auburn Tigers took down the defending national champion Florida Gators in a statement 76-67 win for Steven Pearl’s squad. The victory moves the Tigers to 13-7 and 4-3 in the SEC, as Auburn’s now won three straight conference games.

It was something of a revenge game for Steven Pearl and Tahaad Pettiford, two of the remaining members of the 2025 squad that lost to the Gators in the Final Four. As a result, the Tigers played a very physical game, resulting in the first win for the Tigers in Gainesville since 1996.

 Let’s take a look at some takeaways from this statement victory for Steven Pearl’s squad.

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Hall Continues to Show He’s a Leader on the Team

Keyshawn Hall was quite dominant at the start of the season, but heading into the Florida game, his production seemed to have tapered off in recent games. Against Florida, though, Hall came out looking to prove any doubters wrong, scoring all of the Tigers’ first 10 points on his way to a dominant 22-point half on 7-10 shooting.

In the second half, though, Hall’s production dipped significantly, as he scored just two points on 1-7 shooting. He still played incredible defense, though, resulting in a marathon performance of 39 of 40 minutes played. 

The Tigers have clearly found a leader on their roster, as the “Big Guard” is now averaging 20.1 points per game overall and 15.6 points per game in away games.

Consistency Wins Games

Auburn jumped out to a quick lead, kept its momentum going and gave the lead back just once, but not for long. The Tigers held the lead for 37 minutes, compared to less than a minute for Florida.

That isn’t to say the Gators didn’t make it close, though; after going into the half up 11, the Tigers found themselves on the wrong side of an 18-point comeback to tie the game at 54-54 with 9:07 left in the game. After some struggle, the Tigers broke away from the Gators late in the game and ended up winning by 11.

Though Keyshawn Hall was the obvious standout in the first half for the Tigers, the second half was much more balanced in terms of team stats. Similar to the Ole Miss game, the Tigers played consistent team ball, especially in the second half. Three Tigers had six points each in the second half, but no Tiger had more, with Sebastian Williams-Adams scoring five and both Elyjah Freeman and Filip Jović scoring four. 

This level of consistency has favored the Tigers in just about every game they’ve won, with standout performances like Keyshawn Hall putting the exclamation mark on key wins. If the Tigers can keep it up, they’ll be well-suited for the rest of their schedule and beyond.

Goal of Improving Three-Point Percentage Helped

Before the game, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl told the press that he believed the Tigers would win this matchup if the team shot 40% from three-point range. This claim came as a bit of a shock to some, as the Tigers had shot just 11% over their last two games. On Saturday, though, the Tigers put some money where Pearl’s mouth was, shooting 33% from three-point range.

Keyshawn Hall led the Tigers with 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc, followed by Sebastian Williams-Adams, who shot 1-2. Tahaad Pettiford also boasted the first non-Keyshawn Hall points of the game for the Tigers with an early three, but he missed all of his next three and did not attempt another.

Only those three made any shots from deep range, and the Tigers shot 5-15 overall. This uptick in production was a massive step up for the Tigers, though, as they’d previously shot 2-19 against South Carolina and 2-17 against Ole Miss.

Of course, it wasn’t the 40% Pearl was looking for, but he still managed to lead his team to the win. If the Tigers can continue to improve on their three-point shooting, they’ll be able to pair it with the consistent midrange and paint production they’ve boasted throughout the season.

Up next, the Tigers will journey home after a two-game away streak to take on the Texas Longhorns in Neville Arena. Tipoff on the Plains is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. CST.

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