Heading into Saturday's contest, we here at Hail Florida Hail had predicted that Florida Basketball would fall short against Auburn. We thought they would get inside the absurd 9.5-point spread, but we also thought Auburn's depth, in combination with having home-court advantage, would prove to be too much.
Florida took a haymaker to open the game, but the Gators let America know that at their peak, they could absolutely be the ones to cut down the nets in San Antonio in April.
Florida Basketball: Catch A Tiger
Five minutes into the game, it looked like Florida was about to get run out of The Loveliest Village on the Plains. Much like in Knoxville last Saturday, Florida looked lost on offense while the Tigers were punishing every mistake.
But after falling behind 14-5 and 18-9, Florida punched back. The size advantage Auburn has enjoyed all season was mitigated, and the Gators started punishing Auburn for daring to sag off.
Florida chipped away and brought it back to 23-23 and Auburn led 34-33 with 3:24 left in the first half before the Gators exploded to close out the half and go into the locker room with a 48-38 lead.
If you were wondering if Florida was going to come out tight to start the second half, they didn't.
Florida came out guns blazing and their lead ballooned to 20 points with 14 minutes to play.
With Alijah Martin out due to a hip injury, Walter Clayton reminded everyone he is still capable of putting the team on his back. 19 points and 9 assists later, Clayton put dagger after dagger into the Tigers.
Alex Condon also had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
But there were some unlikely heroes too. Urban Klavzar went 3-3 from three to continue his hot shooting from the Vanderbilt game.
The takeaway message is that Florida has now beaten the number-one-ranked team in the country for the second time this season. The Gators have proven that at their peak, they absolutely can go all the way come March Madness.
Will they? Well, last week against Tennesee reminds us what their floor is too.
But make no mistake about it: if Florida doesn't make it to San Antonio this year, it is going to feel like a gut punch.