A rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament Final Four contest is set, but the teams present significantly changed dynamics.
No. 16 Florida (14-5, 5-1 SEC) faces Auburn (12-7, 3-3) Saturday at the O’Connell Center. Since the two last met, the Tigers' former head coach, Bruce Pearl, has been replaced by his son, Steven. Additionally, senior guard Tahaad Pettiford is the sole rotational player from last year’s team to return for the Tigers.
"The idea of following Bruce is not easy,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “There's a big challenge with that, because Bruce is a Hall of Fame head coach. Steve's done a good job navigating the team and putting them in a competitive spot.”
Here are four analytical keys for the Gators to secure their 16th consecutive home victory against Auburn.
Slow down Keyshawn Hall
Auburn's success on the offensive end runs through Keyshawn Hall.
The senior forward transferred from Central Florida, where he was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team last season.
This season, he is leading the Tigers with 20.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He had back-to-back 32-point outings against Texas A&M on Jan. 6 and Arkansas on Jan. 10. He is shooting a team-high 40% from beyond the arc.
Recently, Hall has slowed his offensive production. Since the Arkansas game, he has missed all eight attempts from 3-point range. However, last time out against Ole Miss on Wednesday, he recorded 19 points by going 11-for-12 from the free throw line.
"He’s a fantastic offensive player," Golden said. "He’s really hard to guard. You guard him with size, you guard him with quickness and length, and he usually has an answer for the different things you throw at him."
At 6 feet, 7 inches, Florida’s Thomas Haugh will most likely be tasked with defending Hall. To keep him quiet, Haugh must prevent Hall from getting to the line or any open looks from beyond the arc.
Against LSU on Wednesday, Haugh held Pablo Tamba to 4 points on 0-of-2 shooting.
Hall leads Auburn with 2.7 turnovers a game, including a six-turnover outing against NC State. Haugh forced a team-high three steals against LSU.
Florida’s ability to limit Hall’s scoring will be a decisive factor in managing Auburn’s offense.
Get Haugh and Lee going
The Tigers enter Saturday struggling to keep their opponents quiet, ranking third-worst in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense, allowing 78 points per game.
Additionally, Auburn is giving up an SEC-worst 44.9% shooting from the field and third-worst 34.9% from beyond the arc. Florida, on the other hand, is shooting an SEC-worst 28.6% from beyond the arc.
Saturday offers Xaivian Lee and Haugh a chance to regain their rhythm.
After scoring 20 against Vanderbilt, Lee had 7 points on 1-of-4 shooting from three against LSU. He’s finished under double digits in three of UF's last five games.
Haugh is coming off one of his weaker offensive efforts this season. Despite averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game on the season, the junior forward finished Wednesday night’s contest with 7 points on 2-of-11 shooting. His sole 3-pointer was a 25-foot buzzer-beater to end the first half.
With these factors in mind, look for Lee and Haugh to regain their confidence in Wednesday’s game.
Use the bench
Like Florida, Auburn has faced the consequences of limited depth and bench production. Against Ole Miss on Wednesday, the Tigers had three players come off the bench to combine for 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting.
While Filip Jović and Kevin Overton have solidified their roles off the bench, the eighth spot in the rotation has been up for grabs.
Freshman guard Kaden Magwood, who was the No. 28 prospect in this past recruiting class, was benched since the Texas A&M game due to what coach Pearl said were issues with off-court standards.
Sophomore center Emeka Opurum, who brought great size to the Tigers at 7 feet tall, has been absent since Nov. 26 after coming down with a season-ending medical condition.
Finally, junior guard Abdul Bashir has not seen the court since Auburn’s game against Michigan on Nov. 25 because he’s been battling a lower back injury. While he did return to practice a week ago, his status for Saturday’s game is unknown.
On the other hand, Florida's eighth man, Isaiah Brown, is coming off two straight impactful performances.
Against Vanderbilt on Saturday, the sophomore guard had 14 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action. He followed that performance with 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting and five rebounds in 13 minutes against LSU.
"He's worked really hard," Golden said. "He's playing the best basketball of his career right now. It's not close."
Moreover, Urban Klavžar logged 18 points with a career-high five 3-pointers, including four in the second half. Overall, the Gators finished the contest with 30 bench points to LSU’s 12.
With Auburn’s lack of a consistent third option off the bench, Florida's reserves could play an important role in deciding Saturday’s matchup.
Feed Chinyelu early
Rueben Chinyelu is playing some of his best basketball as a Gator.
The junior center averages 12 points and a team-high 11.2 rebounds per game, positioning him to be Florida's first player since 1976 to average a double-double.
Chinyelu notched his fourth straight double-double with 15 points and tied his career-high of 21 rebounds against LSU on Wednesday. He is the first Gator since David Lee in 2005 to post four straight double-doubles.
Moreover, the Nigerian is the reigning SEC and Oscar Robertson Player of the Week. Against Oklahoma on Jan. 13, he had 19 points and 12 rebounds, followed by a career-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
While Chinyelu has been dominant, he’s had a slow start to each of his last three outings. Most recently, against LSU, he had two points at the half. In the Oklahoma game, Chinyelu was held to five points, followed by a four-point first half against Vanderbilt, where his first points came with 1:20 left before the half.
“He just didn't get a lot of touches throughout the course of that half,” Golden said after the Vanderbilt game. “At halftime, we talked as a staff about making sure we got him some low block touches, because it calms us down and it slows the game down. It makes the tempo of the game kind of more the way we want to play.”
Look for Florida to get Chinyelu involved early in Saturday's contest so he can continue taking over games, as he has in Florida’s last three outings.
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
