Final Four Observations: Florida 79, Auburn 73
The best season in program history has ended, as the Tigers couldn't hold off an elite opponent that has made comebacks look routine.
SAN ANTONIO — Johni Broome walked back toward his locker with his hood pulled over his head and his face in his hands.
In the chair next to the unanimous All-American was Chris Moore, a fifth-year senior who saw his role decrease in his final season of college ball.
No. 4 and No. 5 hugged, knowing this was the last time either of them would play at this level or with this team after a 79-73 loss in the Final Four. Broome then said something in Moore’s ear that caused him to shake his head.
“Nah, don’t say that,” Moore said. “You’re the reason we got this far, man… you gave us everything you’ve got.”
Moore was right. Broome gave it all in his 34 minutes on Saturday night. He was playing through both an elbow injury he suffered six days earlier in the Elite Eight, as well an issue with an ankle that kept him out for a couple of games earlier this season.
But Broome played through the pain, as he has done throughout this historic season.
“The big fella was always going to want to be there for us,” Moore had told reporters moments earlier. “And, no matter how he’s feeling, he’s always going to want to be there for his team. He was able to do that this year — with the ankle, with the shoulder, with the elbow.
“He’s been there, he’s been consistent, and that’s something I’m proud of for him.”
Broome refused to use his health as an excuse, even as he blinked back tears in his eyes in the final podium interview of his college career.
“Obviously here and there, it bothered me a little bit,” Broome said. “But, I mean, nothing that I couldn't play with. I feel like we got the looks that we wanted to get. I wasn't able to capitalize and finish 'em.”
As a team, Auburn had its chances to capitalize and finish off Florida on Saturday night. The Tigers were up by eight at halftime after playing arguably their best-executed half of offense of this entire record-breaking season.
But Florida quickly erased that deficit early in the second half, and Auburn’s returns to the lead were short-lived. The Tigers’ execution dropped off, both in terms of how it ran its offense and how it battled on the boards.
A team that had played arguably the toughest 38-game season anyone in college basketball has ever seen looked like it just ran out of gas.
“I thought fatigue was a factor,” Bruce Pearl said. “As a result, we weren't able to maintain control of the game. Which, I think if we had taken care of the basketball a little bit, not turned it over, not given them easy ones, we could have been in position to win the basketball game.”
Instead, as Florida got stronger as the game continued, Auburn struggled. The counterpunches weren’t quite enough. The good shots weren’t falling. The easy looks they created early weren’t there anymore.
And no one in the massive Alamodome had any answer for Walter Clayton Jr.
“Clayton was the difference,” Pearl said, pointing to Florida’s All-American guard, who scored 34 points. “He was just flat-out the difference. We couldn't contain him down that end.”
Florida’s elite guard hit well-contested shots as Auburn’s backcourt missed open looks. Florida also had a little more depth in the frontcourt than Auburn.
That’s how the Gators were able to reverse a good-sized second-half deficit — as they’ve done all season, including two other games in this tournament run — and how the Tigers saw their historic campaign come to a tough end.
“I'm really proud of my team, how these guys made history, the best basketball team in the history of Auburn basketball,” Pearl said. “They gave us a ride that won't ever be forgotten. They did so many great things both on and off the court that I'm extremely proud of.”
There are signs all over the Final Four that read “THE ROAD ENDS HERE.”
While that’s painfully true for Auburn on this final weekend of college basketball season, it shouldn’t take anything away from how fun the ride was to get there.
“This is a year I probably will never forget, never in my life,” Tahaad Pettiford said. “I'm gonna tell my kids about this — and probably their kids — because this team was just really special.
“But for this team to get it cut short at the Final Four, not to get the main goal of making it to the championship, it just hurts.”
Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 79-73 loss to Florida at the Final Four, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and Quotes of the Night.
The second-half turnovers were killers…
It’s impossible to overstate how good-looking Auburn’s offense was in the first half Saturday night.
Auburn averaged 1.438 points per possession, an elite number, despite going just 4-15 (26.7%) from 3-point range.
The Tigers scored on 65.6% of their trips down the floor and only turned it over twice (6.3%). They were getting whatever they wanted on offense, with five different players hitting multiple shots and two more getting at least four or more additional points.
“Played beautiful basketball in the first half,” Pearl said. “We were prepared. We had a great game plan. They executed it really well. We only turned the ball over twice. … We just had a great rhythm. We got everything we wanted. But we had to work for it. I just thought we stopped working offensively the way they're coached.”
Auburn then started the second half with a turnover, and it felt like a bad omen.