About three minutes into Jan. 24’s contest, a sold-out O'Connell Center — which was rocking with noise at tipoff and lit with LED wristbands — was silent after a Keyshawn Hall and-1.
Hall scored all 10 of Auburn’s points to start the game, carrying the Tigers to a 19-2 run with about 15 minutes to go before the break. The senior forward came into the game averaging 20.1 points per outing, but he surpassed that marker by the end of the first half with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, giving Auburn a 43-28 advantage.
“When he makes a couple of shots, at that point, the basket just gets really big for him,” Auburn head coach Steven Pearl said. “To have 22 points … just phenomenal. It’s the only reason why we were up 15 at that point.”
Hall finished the contest with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
Florida answered Auburn’s dominance, coming out of the half on a 13-2 run. Thomas Haugh powered the Gators with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting and tied the contest at 56 with a reverse layup with 8:45, bringing the 11,104 fans in the O’Connell Center to their feet.
But from that moment, the Tigers took back control of the game, leading to Auburn (13-7, 4-3 SEC) defeating No.16 Florida (14-6, 5-2 SEC) 76-67. Saturday marked Auburn’s first win in Gainesville since 1996, handing the defending national champions their first home loss of the season.
“It starts with me,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “Anytime you get to a point where you think you got things rolling a little bit, and the moment you feel like they’re on the right track, you get punched in the mouth, and that’s what happened to us today.”
After having one of his weaker outings of the season with 7 points on Tuesday, Haugh was quick to put that performance in the past, hitting a 3-pointer on the first possession of the contest. At halftime, Haugh had a team-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. His second 3-pointer cut the Gators’ deficit to six with 12 minutes to go.
In addition to Hall’s dominance, Auburn was holding its own against one of the best frontcourts in the nation.
At the half, the Tigers had a 20-13 advantage on the glass. Rueben Chinyelu, who came into the game as the reigning SEC and Oscar Robertson Player of the Week, had 4 points and two rebounds in 14 minutes of action. The junior center ended the contest with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds, his lowest in five games.
While Florida finished the contest plus-7 in the rebound battle, the Tigers were plus-10 in paint points.
“We weren't physical enough,” Haugh said. “We were getting outrebounded in the first half by seven. That can't happen.”
Moreover, AP Preseason All-American Alex Condon was scoreless at the break with three rebounds. He finished the game with 1 point, which came from the free throw line.
Free throw shooting also proved decisive.
The Gators shot 16-for-27 (59%) from the line, while the Tigers were 19-for-21 (90%). Auburn started the game going 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
“I think it's just unacceptable, just to be missing free throws,” Chinyelu said. “It's called free for a reason.”
Aside from Haugh, Urban Klavžar was the only other Gator to provide a spark for the Florida offense.
Klavžar, like Haugh, made a 3-pointer on his first shot of the game, cutting Florida’s deficit to six with 11:07 left in the first half. He finished the half with 7 points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field. The junior guard finished with 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting. His sole steal led to a Boogie Fland layup, cutting UF’s deficit to two with 9:35 to go.
KeShawn Murphy provided the Tigers with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and a team-high nine rebounds. He had 4 points in the last 16 seconds to put the game out of reach and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton rounded out Auburn’s double-digit scoring efforts. Pettiford had 11 points, and Overton logged 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Gators will look to bounce back against South Carolina (11-9, 2-5 SEC) in Columbia Wednesday at 9 p.m.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
