“Did Auburn’s Shot Selection Cost Them a Shot at a National Championship Appearance?”

In the biggest game of the year for Auburn basketball, the Tigers offense did not have its best showing in the 79-73 loss to Florida.

The Tigers shot 44% from the floor and 28% from beyond the arc. Auburn finished with just seven made 3-pointers in the game.

“I think to take a little heat off of Johni Broome, we scored great in the first half with our two-point baskets. We went through him, and he did great,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said postgame.

“I don’t know whether we got away from it a little bit, but we only had a handful of two-point baskets in the second half. I’m going to give Florida credit defensively for stepping up.”

In the second half Auburn finished with eight points coming inside the paint. The Tigers also shot 3-of-10 from 3-point territory in that half.

Miles Kelly missed two crucial 3-pointers in the game’s final minutes. At the 03:11 mark of the second half, Kelly passed up a wide-open drive to the basket for a 3-point attempt that would have given Auburn the lead.

Pearl defended Kelly postgame crediting Florida’s defense for making it hard for the Tigers backcourt all night.

“Well, they did a great job of extending his catches. They recognized what a dangerous shooter Miles is. So not banging down some of those shots…He got a couple in the first half,” Pearl said.

Tahaad Pettiford finished with seven points, only connecting on one field goal all game. Denver Jones added 10 points rounding out the Tigers backcourt.

“I haven’t talked to [Tahaad Pettiford] yet. He’s been sensational all season long. I know that he’s going to be disappointed because he wasn’t elite tonight like he’s always been,” Pearl added.

“Give, again, Florida credit. There’s real size in their backcourt, real size in their front court. Again, if he had a better coach, he’d have gotten cleaner looks, and he would have been had a few more open shots. That probably would have helped him play a little better.”

Auburn finished the game shooting 70% from the free throw line, only missing seven all evening. However, the timing of those misses came at the worst moments of the game

Johni Broome shot 3-of-7 from line and missed two back-to-back in the final two minutes of the game.