Auburn defeated Florida Tuesday night by a final score of 76-62 in Auburn Arena. This marked the first time since 1999, that the Tigers have beaten the Gators in Auburn. The Auburn Tigers accomplished this by doing what they have done all season, be unstoppable on offense... at times.
Throughout this season, Auburn has had a tendency to play lights out on the offensive side of the ball, only to be followed by abysmal stretches of offense. This was put on full display in Tuesday's contest. Auburn's lackluster performance in the first half, provided them with a 36-30 lead over the Gators, despite controlling much of the game up to that point.
The second half fireworks began early for the Tigers. Jared Harper launched a deep three to get the crowd back after the break. This shot began what Tiger fans have come to expect, an electric run. This run was highlighted by a couple Bryce Brown dunks, one of which, was an alley-oop from Harper to go along with a Horace Spence alley-oop of his own.
Samir Doughty book-ended this run with a fast break slam coming after a steal with 8:15 left in the game. At this point, the Tigers lead by 18 points, with the Auburn Arena rocking, and all of the momentum in their favor.
Despite the aforementioned run, just five minutes later, the Tigers saw their lead dwindled to just 10 points. A middling performance over the next 5 minutes allowed the crowd to quiet and more importantly, allowed the Gators to keep the game respectable. It is easy to assume that Auburn got conservative down the stretch and mailed it in, in the waning minutes of the game, but followers of the Tigers are always dreary that it is another hot and cold sequence.
As it stands right now, Auburn appears to be living and dying be these types of runs. If the Tigers can become consistent with their level of offense throughout an entire game, they are certainly a threat, not only, in the SEC, but also the national landscape.
