Auburn had four players score at least 10 points to defeat Florida 85-73 Saturday night at Auburn Arena.
Jaylin Williams scored 14 off the bench. The 14 points were a season-high for Williams. Freshman Jabari Smith scored 14 points with five rebounds and two assists.
KD Johnson led all scorers with 23 points in the Tigers’ 11th consecutive win. Johnson iced the win for Auburn with a steal with 18 seconds remaining in the game. Johnson hit one of his two free throws to put Auburn ahead by ten points. He scored the 85th point for Auburn on a two-handed layup with less than five seconds left in the game.
“He’s a dangerous man. He just is. And they can’t stay in front of him,” Pearl said. “He drives in there and there’s so much contact in there, a lot of times, officials think he initiates contact — yeah, he sure does. Whether he initiates it or not, there’s a lot of contact in there. He did a great job getting downhill. We had some things game-planned for our guard.”
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Johnson had a bounceback game after scoring two points during Tuesday’s win at South Carolina. Pearl mentioned how fatigued the players were after the game. Johnson’s layup at the end of the game probably would’ve been a dunk, but he didn’t have the legs.
“Nah, you know, I had to realize I was running for a long time,” Johnson said. “So with the last steal, I kind of felt my legs give out. I was like, ‘Aww.’ I wanted to dunk it, but I couldn’t.”
Auburn won by 12, but don’t get fooled by the final score. The Tigers needed a 12-2 run with less than five minutes to advance the lead. Smith hit a three to start the run. Smith was one of several Tigers who had to play through foul trouble.
“Well, it was tough. I thought Dylan and Jaylin did a good job, but you’re right,” Pearl said. “Walker fouls out and Jabari’s in foul trouble. So, we sent (Colin) Castleton to the line 11 times. Florida was in bonus after 4 minutes of basketball in the second half.”
Walker Kessler fouled out. Some of the fouls against Kessler were on block attempts that appeared to have minimal contact. Kessler finished the night with six points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.
Florida’s Colin Castleton led the Gators with 22 points. He drew fouls against Smith and Kessler. Castleton kept the Gators in the game partly by keeping Kessler off the court.
Allen Flanigan had eight points. He missed the last game against South Carolina for medical reasons.
The Tigers had their full roster available for the second time this year. Murray State game was the first time after Flanigan returned from injury. He scored eight points off the bench. Devan Cambridge got the start and scored four points. During the Tigers run, he caught an alley-oop that pushed the lead to double-digits from a two-point lead.
Wendell Green Jr had another solid game. He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting. Green also had four assists. He tied with Jep Zasper for the team led in dimes. Green scored his points off the bench. The Tigers reserves outscored Florida 35-9 in front of a sellout crowd.
Auburn remains undefeated in SEC play. The Tigers play their next game on Tuesday at Alabama. The Crimson Tide dropped a conference game against Missouri before Auburn’s game tipped off.
Auburn is 14-1 and 3-0 in the SEC.
Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.
