Auburn tops Florida in SEC Championship for Tigers' 3rd league title

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auburn-tops-florida-sec-championship-tigers-3rd-league-title — Photo by Andrew Nelles, The Tennessean | USA TODAY NETWORK

The Auburn Tigers have won the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Bruce Pearl’s squad took down the Florida Gators, 86-67, during Sunday’s championship game in Nashville, giving Auburn its third league crown and second since 2019. The Tigers also won the SEC Tournament back in 1985. With the win over Florida, Auburn has officially locked up an automatic bid in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, although they were projected as a three-seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi as of Sunday morning.

Auburn was led by 19 points and 11 rebounds from All-SEC First Team forward Johni Broome. Denver Jones chipped in 11 points while Chad Baker-Mazara added 10. All 10 Tigers who played real minutes scored at least four points, including six with seven points or more. Florida shot 1-13 from beyond the arc. Opposing teams went just 7-40 from deep against Auburn in the tournament.

THE 2024 #SECMBB TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS 🏆

🐅 @AuburnMBB #SECTourney pic.twitter.com/j0PeYYgXzh
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 17, 2024

Auburn, which was beaten by Kentucky at home by 11 back on Feb. 17, entered the SEC Tournament as the 4-seed, beating 5-seed South Carolina by 31 on Friday and then 9-seed Mississippi State on Saturday to make the title game. Florida came in as the 6-seed, having beaten 11-seed Georgia on Thursday, 3-seed Alabama on Friday, and 7-seed Texas A&M (which knocked Kentucky out of the bracket the night prior) on Saturday to reach Sunday’s championship.

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Florida is a projected 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to Lunardi, so Sunday’s result won’t have any impact on whether or not the Gators make the field of 68. Todd Golden’s team will make the Big Dance for the first time since 2021. Unfortunately for Florida, 7-foot-1 sophomore center Micah Handlogten suffered a fractured bone in his lower left leg in the opening minutes of the game.

Now in his 10th season in charge of Auburn, Coach Pearl has amassed a 214-118 overall record. This will be his fifth time leading the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament and the third season in a row. Auburn would have made the 2020 NCAA Tournament (25-6), but COVID-19 canceled the postseason before it could begin. Pearl has coached Auburn to four single-digit loss seasons.

The 2024 NCAA Tournament Selection Show is set for 6:00 p.m. EST on CBS.