Coming off three consecutive losses, the Florida Gators were looking to strengthen their case for a berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament Thursday night against the Auburn Tigers in the opening round of the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

Junior forward Alex Tyus helped them do just that, scoring a team-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting to propel the Gators (21-11, 9-7 SEC) to a 78-69 win over the Tigers (15-17, 6-10 SEC) and a berth in the tournament’s quarterfinals.

Florida, looking to avenge a loss to Auburn in the quarterfinals of the 2009 SEC Tournament, was carried by Tyus, junior F Chandler Parsons and redshirt junior center Vernon Macklin in the first half. The trio combined to go 13-for-19 from the field while scoring 33 of the Gators’ 40 first-half points. Tyus continued his excellent play in the second half and was joined by freshman guard Kenny Boynton, who nailed three consecutive three-pointers and finished with nine points.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Auburn SEC Tournament game story…
Continue Reading » Gators strengthen NCAA bid with win over Tigers

Tags: Alex Tyus, Auburn Tigers, Billy Donovan, Bridgestone Arena, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, DeWayne Reed, Erving Walker, Frankie Sullivan, Kenny Boynton, Lucas Hargrove, NCAA Tournament, SEC, SEC Tournament, Tay Walker, Vernon Macklin