Auburn @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 16, 2019 ) Florida 62, Auburn 65

Fourth-ranked Auburn dropped from the unbeaten ranks with a thud last time out and will try to salvage one victory during a two-game SEC road swing Saturday afternoon when it attempts to win at Florida for the first time since 1996. The Tigers, who won 12 of their final 13 games last season, found ways to record 15 straight victories to open 2019-20 before unraveling in an 83-64 setback at Alabama on Wednesday.

“We were really sloppy offensively,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told reporters after his team shot 31.7 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times in the loss. “Pacing, timing, feel. A lot of that starts with our point guards. We don’t just shoot it well enough offensively to make up for what we don’t execute or space, and it caught up with us. We’ll have another opportunity this week to shore that up.” The Tigers won both meetings last season, including a three-point triumph in the SEC tournament semifinals, after Florida won the previous 11 and the Gators hope to register their fifth victory in six games overall Saturday. Florida rebounded from a 16-point loss at Missouri last weekend by shooting 54 percent from the field en route to a 71-55 victory over Ole Miss as six players scored at least eight points and it hopes for a similar effort to knock off Auburn. “We’re going to need our confidence to be high to make shots,” Gators sophomore guard Andrew Nembhard, who is battling the flu and could miss the game, told Florida’s website. “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

TIME: 1:30 p.m. ET. TV: CBS

ABOUT AUBURN (15-1, 3-1 SEC): The Tigers managed just eight assists in the loss at Alabama, missed 13 free throws, were outscored by 16 in the final 11 minutes and senior center Austin Wiley told reporters: “We can learn a lot (from this). We just got to keep our head, keep our composure.” Senior guard Samir Doughty leads the team in scoring (15.1), but was held to six against the Crimson Tide on 2-of-11 from the field with seven turnovers. Freshman forward Isaac Okoro (13.2 points) scored 13 on 5-of-11 shooting and Wiley (10.7 points, team-high 9.4 boards) posted his fourth double-double in six games Wednesday.

ABOUT FLORIDA (11-5, 3-1): Senior forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., a transfer from Virginia Tech, leads the team in scoring (15.0) and rebounding (8.4) after averaging 18.8 points and 9.3 boards over the past six contests. Sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson (13.0 points, 6.8 rebounds) scored 15 on 6-of-7 from the field against Ole Miss and Nembhard (11.1 points, team-best 5.9 assists) also contributes on the offensive end for the Gators. Freshman guard Scottie Lewis was limited to three points versus the Rebels after averaging 13 over the previous four games and is shooting just 36 percent from the field in SEC action.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Auburn senior G J’Von McCormick, who was 2-for-8 from the floor versus Alabama, averages 11.2 points and a team-high five assists.

2. Florida sophomore G Noah Locke (9.9 points) is 10-for-19 from 3-point range in the first four SEC games.

3. The Gators are eighth in the SEC in free-throw percentage (71.5) and Auburn is 13th at 65.1.

PREDICTION: Auburn 74, Florida 70