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Florida’s road upset of No. 1 Auburn spurs major social media reaction
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Florida finally did the deed, saddling top-ranked Auburn with its first loss in over 2 months, and boy did it grab the attention of college basketball fans around the country.
On the day before the Super Bowl, the Gators showed some potential championship mettle by taking down the No. 1 team in the country for the second time in a month. On Jan. 7 in Gainesville, Florida took out No. 1 Tennessee by 30 points in a 73-43 beatdown. The Gators weren’t in their friendly confines this time around, but they took a 10-point halftime lead and went up by much bigger in the second half before holding off an inevitable Auburn rally to pull off the rare double takedown of a top-ranked team in 1 season with the 90-81 win.
Walter Clayton Jr. led the way, as he often does for Florida, with 19 points, and Alex Condon added 17 for the sixth-ranked Gators, who improved to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in the SEC. Auburn had won 14 in a row, with its only loss of the season coming at No. 2 Duke way back on Dec. 4. The Tigers even kept winning when all-world player Johni Broome went down with an ankle injury earlier this season, but Broome couldn’t carry Auburn to victory again despite his 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Instead, the Tigers dropped to 21-2 overall and 9-1 in the SEC because Florida shot so darn well. The Gators went 13 for 33 from 3-point range, while Auburn shot just 32% from long distance, finishing 7 for 22.
So, who will have the edge in the SEC race as we move toward the 2nd full week of February? Use our Florida sports betting apps to track the odds down the stretch of the regular season.
As for Saturday, Florida’s performance was the talk of college basketball, and here are some of the reactions on social media:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
