No. 6 UF faces toughest test to date at red-hot top-ranked Auburn

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GAINESVILLE — Florida beat No. 1 once — and decisively — and aims to do it again, though this time it looms as a much more daunting task.

The No. 6 Gators’ visit Saturday to Auburn offers them their second shot at the nation’s top-ranked team, along with their toughest test to date.

A 73-43 rout of Tennessee Jan. 7 at O’Connell Center underscored Florida’s formidability on its home floor, where the Gators are 10-1 and winning by an average of nearly 30 points. Prevailing at Auburn’s raucous Neville Arena, where the Tigers are 10-0 with winning margin of 32.2 points, will require something special.

“Auburn is definitely the No. 1 team in America right now,” UF coach Todd Golden said. “There could be some debate a couple weeks ago about who was really No. 1. Auburn has now clearly proven they are the best team in America. It is a little bit more of a challenge and a great opportunity.

“You can’t run from these opportunities.”

A 9.5-point underdog, UF (19-3, 6-3 SEC) hopes to be at full speed at Auburn (21-1, 9-0) as the Gators’ top two scorers battle injuries.

Point guard Walter Clayton Jr., who averages a team-leading 17.4 points, sat out Tuesday night’s 86-75 home win against Vanderbilt with an ankle injury from last weekend’s 20-point loss at Tennessee.

Meanwhile, shooting guard Aljah Martin, second on UF with an average of 15.3 points, has a hip pointer from the first half of the Vanderbilt game.

Golden said he expects Clayton to be “pretty close to 100%,” but initially hinted Martin might be questionable before expressing a vote of confidence that the hard-nosed 6-foot-2, 210-pound FAU transfer would play.

“I think Alijah will be out there. I do,” Golden said Friday. “We’ll be pretty much full strength going into this game.”

The Gators will have to be to have a chance in one of the toughest environments against a team without any weaknesses, led by arguably the nation’s top big man. Johni Broome, the Tigers’ 6-foot-10,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-6-uf-faces-toughest-200800230.html

Author : Orlando Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-02-07 20:08:00

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