Live Blog: No. 6 Florida Gators upset No. 1 Auburn Tigers to make history

AUBURN, ALABAMA — The Florida Gators have two national titles and five Final Four appearances but they had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team on the road before Saturday. Well … they have now.

Facing top-ranked Auburn — and a rowdy crowd in the arena known as “The Jungle” — Todd Golden and Co. defeated the Tigers 90-81. The Gators were 0-8 all-time vs. No. 1 ranked teams on the road entering this titanic tilt. 

Florida, ranked sixth, improves to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in the SEC. The Tigers, who sit atop the SEC standings, are 21-2, 9-1. They had won 30 in a row at home. 

Florida now has two wins over No. 1-ranked opponents this season. They toppled Tennessee at home earlier in the season (73-43) when the Vols were in the top spot.

Gators Online is on the scene and will provide live updates from Neville Arena. Join the discussion at SWAMP TALK, our online community.

Florida vs. Auburn Live Blog

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 87, AUBURN 71 (2:40)

Gators guard Denzel Aberdeen just made another clutch 3-pointer and Auburn calls timeout. He has 10 points.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 84, AUBURN 69 (7:08)

The Tigers have gone cold from the field at a great time for Florida. Auburn now is shooting 43.8 percent to 50.9 percent from Florida. The Tigers are only 6 of 18 from 3-point range. The Gators are 12 of 30 from deep. Guard Walter Clayton leads Florida with 19 points. Center Alex Condon has 16.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 79, AUBURN 67 (7:08)

The two heavyweight teams are trading body shots. Auburn has closed to within nine points twice but Gators guard Denzel Aberdeen just made a clutch open three to get the lead back into double-digits. It’s getting loud in the Jungle and Auburn’s increased energy means Florida is going to have to keep the foot on the fast.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 70, AUBURN 55 (11:47)

The Gators and Tigers just traded baskets. Florida has started to cool off a little bit from the field. Guard Will Richard just missed another 3-pointer and now is only 1 of 6 from deep today.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 68, AUBURN 53 (13:11)

After Florida built a 21-point lead following back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Urban Klavzar, Auburn has responded with a quick 6-0 run. That led Gators coach Todd Golden to call a timeout to try to get his team back on track. One of Auburn’s buckets just came on a fast break following a turnover. Florida has eight turnovers today to only four for Auburn but the Gators are shooting 55.8 percent.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 60, AUBURN 43 (16:16)

Florida has started the second half with a 12-5 run as the Gators continue to shoot lights out from the field. They’re now 21 of 35 from the floor — good for 60 percent. Auburn and the Neville Arena crowd appear stunned right now.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 48, AUBURN 38 (HALFTIME)

The Gators finished the half red-hot from the floor and built a double-digit lead that has the crowd at Neville Arena stunned. Florida is shooting 57 percent from the floor and is 9 of 11 from the foul line. Guard Walter Clayton leads Florida with a game-high 16 points. Auburn is shooting 46.9 percent from the field.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 39, AUBURN 33 (3:24 1H)

Florida just got five quick points from guard Walter Clayton and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, who doesn’t love calling timeouts, used one. Clayton has a game-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 34, AUBURN 33 (3:24 1H)

Auburn jumped out in front by five with a nice mini-run but Florida once again fought back. Guard Walter Clayton hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Gators back ahead. On the next offensive series, Florida center Alex Condon had a superb low-post move against Auburn center Johni Broome that led to a bucket in deep. Florida is shooting 13 of 24 (54.2 percent) from the field.

SCORE UPDATE: FLORIDA 23, AUBURN 22 (7:48 1H)

The Gators have heated up on offense and guard Will Richard has made a couple shots, including a big 3-pointer that put Florida in front for the first time. Florida has held Auburn center Johni Broome, the favorite for SEC Player of the Year, to 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting. He’s been on the bench the last few minutes, which has limited Auburn’s inside game — and Florida has taken advantage of that on the defensive end.

SCORE UPDATE: AUBURN 20, FLORIDA 13 (11:21 1H)

UF is getting more into the flow on the offensive end and it is keeping things fairly close. After an 0-for-5 start from the field, Gators guard Denzel Aberdeen has made two straight shots. Meanwhile, the Gators are starting to assert themselves on the inside a little bit on offense. Heading into the timeout, Florida just had a nice defensive stand, something it needs more of. Auburn is 8 of 15 from the field thus far.

SCORE UPDATE: AUBURN 12, FLORIDA 5 (14:47 1H)

UF already is down seven early as Auburn small-forward/guard Chad Baker-Mazara has six points. Meanwhile, Gators guard Will Richard picked up two quick fouls and that has put Florida in a bind with Alijah Martin (hip) out today. Gators guard Denzel Aberdeen is 0-for-4 from the field and has looked shaky.

Florida Gators projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
1	Walter Clayton Jr.	Guard	6-2, 195 pounds	Sr.	31.4	17.4	3.3	3.8 ast
15	Alijah Martin	Guard	6-2, 210 pounds	Sr.	30.5	15.3	4.9	2.6 ast
5	Will Richard	Guard	6-4, 206 pounds	Sr.	32.2	13.4	4.9	1.9 stl
21	Alex Condon	Forward	6-11, 230 pounds	So.	26.0	10.8	8.0	1.5 blk
9	Rueben Chinyelu	Center	6-10, 260 pounds	So.	19.2	5.1	6.7	1.0 blk

Auburn Tigers projected starters

No.	Player	Position	Height/Weight	Class	Min.	Pts.	Rebs.	Misc.
2	Denver Jones	Guard	6-4, 205 pounds	Sr.	27.2	10.4	2.0	2.9 ast
13	Miles Kelly	Guard	6-6, 190 pounds	Sr.	26.0	10.6	3.4	2.2 3fg
10	Chad Baker-Mazara	Forward	6-7, 180 pounds	Sr.	25.0	13.0	3.5	2.6 ast
4	Johni Broome	Forward	6-10, 240 pounds	Sr.	28.2	18.2	10.9	3.2 ast
44	Dylan Cardwell	Center	6-11, 255 pounds	Gr.	19.8	5.7	5.0	1.7 blk

Florida-Auburn injury report

Florida starting guard Alijah Martin is listed as questionable with a hip pointer. UF center Micah Handlogten also out. UPDATE at 3:38 p.m. ET: Martin is OUT.

RELATED: Todd Golden gives injury updates on Walter Clayton Jr Alijah Martin

Auburn has no players on the availability report.

Here’s a further breakdown of the Florida Gators in the Net rankings:

-3-2 road games
-5-0 neutral site
-Quad 1 games: 4-3
-Quad 2 games: 6-0
-Quad 3 games: 4-0
-Quad 4 games: 5-0

Now, here’s what Auburn has done:

-5-1 road games
-6-0 neutral site
-Quad 1 games: 12-1
-Quad 2 games: 3-0
-Quad 3 games: 2-0
-Quad 4 games: 4-0

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