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Bruce Pearl sensed a letdown would happen in the No. 1 Auburn Tigers' matchup with the No. 6 Florida Gators.
Safe to say he was right. The Tigers lost in a stunning 90-81 upset at home to the Gators, who were without one of their star players in Alijah Martin. Nonetheless, Florida had big performances from Walter Clayton Jr., Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, allowing the visitors to take down their opponents.
Pearl reflected on the loss in the postgame press conference. He gave credit to the opposing side for beating them while making a surprising admission about the state of his squad.
“Start off by congratulating Florida on a great victory, great gameplan,” Pearl said.
“I kind of sensed this was about to happen at some point… I knew we were due for a letdown. Give Florida all the credit… We didn't look like the No. 1 team in the country, we didn't act like the No. 1 team in the country, and we didn't play like it.”
What's next for Bruce Pearl, Tigers after loss
It's a loss that Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers will be disappointed about. It's their second loss, expecting a small slide down the AP Top 25 when the new poll comes out on Monday.
The loss had Auburn fall to 21-2 on the season, including a 9-1 record in SEC play. They are averaging 85 points on 48.5% shooting from the field and 37.1% from beyond the arc. They beat teams by a convincing margin of 17.3 points per game.
Johni Broome leads the way with a double-double of 18.1 points and 10.9 rebounds as well as 3.3 assists and 2.7 blocks. Chad Baker-Mazara comes next with 12.7 points and 3.4 rebounds, while Tahaad Pettiford provides 11.7 points and 1.8 rebounds off the bench.
The No. 1 Tigers will prepare for their next matchup, being on the road. They face the Vanderbilt Commodores on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. ET.
