The No. 1 overall seed Auburn Tigers have cruised to the Final Four and now sit two wins away from a national title. Standing in their path is SEC foe Florida who they will go against Saturday evening in San Antonio. These two met in early February in a game that Auburn lost by nine points at home.
The Gators looked dead in the water late in their Elite 8 game against Texas Tech, but used a valiant comeback effort led by Walter Clayton Jr. to get the win. Few teams in the country have looked better than Florida down the stretch of the season and Auburn will need to be at their best if they want to advance.
Here are three keys for Auburn to defeat Florida and secure a spot in their first ever college basketball national championship game.
1. Keep Florida off the offensive glass
The Gators have great size with Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, which helps make them one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country. Their favorite thing to do on the offensive end is chuck threes, and if they do not fall, someone is there to grab the rebound, leading to second-chance scoring opportunities. The last time they played, Auburn won the offensive rebound battle with 15 and gave up 11 to the Gators. Limiting Florida’s three-point attempts and always finding a body to box out can help limit their offensive production, making them much less dangerous. It will be key for Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell to have big games down low, starting with controlling the glass.
2. Slow down the tempo
Auburn is not the fastest team in the country, but sometimes they like to push it, which does not always play in their favor and can make them look out of control (i.e., the first half against Michigan). On the other hand, Florida likes to run the court with Clayton leading the way alongside their lengthy guards and bigs. UConn and Texas Tech both showed that Florida is beatable despite being unable to hold on at the end of the game. A big part of this was slowing the game down and forcing the Gators to run their offense in the half court which they are not as comfortable in. Florida wants just to outscore their opponent and run you off the court. Auburn should emphasize slowing down the tempo and not letting that happen.
3. Get off to a hot start
Florida has not played from behind much this season. They did have that great late-game comeback, but they led or were within two possessions for most of that game. Getting off to a hot start, not letting Florida take a big lead, and maybe even getting up big early would be massive for Auburn. With only four losses on the season, it is hard to point to a definitive trend that leads to a Florida defeat, but in all of their losses, they have trailed at halftime and by double digits in three of those instances. Auburn must come ready to play and not let the Gators take control of this one early.