Stunned in Gainesville: Florida suffers first home loss to Auburn since 1996

Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel on Jan 24, 2026

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coach Todd Golden’s Gators have been unbeatable at home, but no Florida team for decades had any trouble against Auburn in the O’Connell Center.

Until Saturday.

The Tigers stunned the Gators 76-67 for Auburn’s first win in Gainesville since 1996 and Florida’s first loss at home after 16 straight wins.

“Disappointing,” Golden said. “We had been playing really well. I don’t think we played great, but I want to credit Auburn. I thought they took the fight to us.”

In a rematch from the 2025 Final Four, Auburn was an 11.5-point underdog to the reigning national champion Gators (14-6, 5-2 SEC) riding a five-game winning streak. But the Tigers (13-7, 4-3) quickly silenced a raucous crowd of 11,004 behind swarming defense and a 22-point first half by Keyshawn Hall, who transferred from UCF.

“It was my fault,” Gators small forward Thomas Haugh said after defending Hall. “I know he is a really talented scorer. I let him get going, and once he gets hot it’s hard to stop.”

Down 43-28 at intermission, the Gators immediately allowed an Auburn 3-pointer to open the second half to trail by 18 points, the largest deficit Florida has faced all season. Florida rallied behind Haugh — who finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds — to tie the game at 54-54 with nine minutes to go.

The Gators eventually ran out of gas as the Tigers pulled away.

“That might be the best road game that we’ve ever had as a program,” Tigers first-year head coach Steven Pearl said after Auburn ended a 15-game skid at UF. “That’s probably the best crowd I’ve seen in this building since I’ve been at Auburn.”

Pearl served the past 10 seasons as an assistant to his father Bruce Pearl, who retired in September and handed the reins to his son.

The Pearls and Golden have a long, collegial history, including the 2014-16 seasons when Florida’s coach was a Tigers assistant.

The Gators’ inability to match the Tigers’ intensity did not sit well with Golden. Auburn had a 19-13 first-half advantage against the nation’s top rebounding team while outscoring Florida 36-28 in the paint. Big men Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon combined for just 11 points.

Auburn quickly took a 15-5 lead during the opening four minutes behind 10 points from Hall. The Gators trailed 19-5 after a 12-0 Tigers’ run, ended by a driving layup by point guard Boogie Fland. The basket spurred a 13-2 run, ending on consecutive 3s by Urban Klavzar and Xaivian Lee.

But the Gators could not assume control as Hall came alive again, scoring seven unanswered points to turn a 23-19 lead into a 30-19 advantage. Auburn continued to pull away to establish enough of a cushion to hold off Florida’s inevitable rally.

With the game tied 56-56 after a pair of free throws by Haugh, Auburn had a 6-0 run featuring two baskets by point guard Tahaad Pettiford, the second a driving layup with 4:24 remaining to push the lead to 62-56.

Florida was never closer than four points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 10 down the stretch.

“I do think a big part of it was the fact that we had to expend so much energy getting back in the ballgame,” Golden said.

But Florida’s coach shouldered the blame for his team not being ready from the opening tip at a sold-out O’Dome.

“It starts with me,” he said. “Anytime you get to a point where you got things rolling a little bit and the moment you feel like you are on the right track, you get punched in the mouth.

“That’s what happened today.”

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