Mike White addresses Florida's NCAA Tournament chances following win vs. Auburn

The unranked Florida Gators capitalized on several Auburn Tiger miscues to pull off its biggest victory of the season, 63-62 at Exactech Arena in Gainesville. Auburn made a run in the second half, but the Gators battled back and eventually stunned the No. 2-ranked Tigers, which bodes well for their tournament hopes sitting at 17-10 on the season.

A reporter during postgame media availability asked Florida head coach Mike White how he sees Florida’s tournament chances at this point in the season, especially after a marquee victory over a potential No. 1 seed come March. White intervened midway through the question, stating that he’s worried about tomorrow’s practice, not next month’s tournament.

The NCAA Tournament committee ranked Auburn as the No. 2 overall seed behind Gonzaga in the initial rankings, which bodes well for the Gators’ hopes.

“I guess the committee will tell us that in time,” White said of the potential of the win boosting their odds to make a tournament bid. “If we’re worried about that, we’re not worried about how we can handle press late in games. We’re better than that, getting the ball inbounds … a lot of stuff we can do better. I know it’s boring, but I continue to preach to our guys, ‘don’t don’t worry about stuff we can’t control, let’s let’s play really well against Arkansas and not even worry about the result.'”

Tyree Appleby had a huge day for the Gators, scoring 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting — including 5-of-10 from three-point territory. As a group, 10 of Florida’s 19 made field goals came from downtown, which allowed the Gators to build a lead over Auburn. The Tigers shot 40% from the field, but were 5-for-14 from outside. Jabari Smith dropped a team-high 28 points, but he didn’t have much help. Walker Kessler had 11 points, but got into foul trouble early. The Tigers committed an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers in the effort.

Whether White wants to admit it or not, the victory boosts the Gators’ resume for the NCAA tournament. Florida is now 7-7 in SEC play, and have picked up its second Quadrant 1 win in the effort with another opportunity to make it three as early as Tuesday.

As well as Florida played Saturday, they have to put it behind them as they’re set to host a tough 21-6 Arkansas team ranked No. 23 in the nation Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2. “We have to be better tomorrow,” White said.