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…

An early trey from Parsons gave Florida a 7-5 lead in the first half, which they would end up retaining for the remainder of the contest. A subsequent 20-5 run jumped the Gators out 20-10, while a Tyus dunk at 9:38 provided them with a game-high 14 point advantage. A 7-0 run by Auburn cut their deficit to six, but a wide-open three by senior F Dan Werner to end the half kept Florida up nine going into the locker rooms.

The Gators came out cold in the second half, missing their first seven shots as the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to bring the game within one, 40-39. That would not last long, as Florida utilized Boynton’s trifecta of treys to boost them through a 13-0 run that brought UF back up 55-41, tying their game-high 14-point lead. Seven straight points by Auburn G Frankie Sullivan closed the gap to 60-54 with 6:16 to go, but a powerful block by Tyus at 5:36 permanently reversed the momentum back in Florida’s favor.

“I really feel like our team did a good job of finding each other, really working on trying to get easy baskets for each other through the offense,” Tyus said after the game. “We want to keep playing, keep going. We’re just really excited now that we got this win.”

Tyus added five rebounds to his 24 points, and Parsons followed suit with 21 points and six rebounds of his own while shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Werner and sophomore point guard Erving Walker each posted a team-high seven rebounds, though Walker added six points and six assists and Werner contributed five points. Macklin was good for 10 points and a game-high three steals.

As a team, the Gators shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from downtown while limiting the Tigers to 16 percent (4-of-25).

Sullivan finished with a game-high 25 points (10-of-17) for the Tigers as G Tay Walker was held scoreless. Auburn G DeWayne Reed scored 18 points, and F Lucas Hargrove contributed 11 along with nine rebounds.

“Auburn has got an unbelievable coach in Jeff [Lebo], and their kids battled and fought,” Florida head coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought our guys hung in there, we weathered some storms. I think we have to continue trying to defend. I thought we did a much better job trying to defend the three point line. At this point everybody is so familiar with each other, [so] we just have to make sure we can build off this, try to get some rest and get in some prep work [before the next game].”

Florida advances to face the SEC West No. 1-seed Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in SEC Tournament quarterfinal action. The game will air live on the SEC Network and ESPN360.com – check your local listings for availability.

Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Location: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN [Capacity: 19,395]
Time: 7:30 p.m. (EST)

TV: SEC Network
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -5.5; O/U 143.5

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» Junior forward Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in seven of his last nine games and has two double-doubles in those contests. He has also helped run the point and scored 17 points with six rebounds and four assists in Florida’s first meeting with Auburn.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 13-4 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures. Macklin has achieved this mark in five of the last seven games.
» Bench production by freshman F Erik Murphy and sophomore guard Ray Shipman…who combined for 18 points in limited time against No. 3 Kentucky.
» Auburn F Lucas Hargrove…who leads his team with 6.9 rebounds per game while also averaging 12.9 points.
» Tigers’ guards DeWayne Reed and Tay Walker…who combine for 30 of the team’s 75.9 points each game. Walker also shoots 42 percent from downtown.

STREAKS:
» Auburn leads the all-time series against Florida 87-69; however, the Gators have won 11 of the last 12 meetings including a 78-70 victory last month in Gainesville.
» The Tigers’ only win in that stretch was a 61-58 win in the 2009 SEC Tournament quarterfinals, which knocked UF out of contention for the NCAA Tournament.
» Florida went 6-0 against the SEC West this season.
» The Gators have won three prior SEC Tournament titles (2005-2007). They won the 2006 title at the site of this year’s tourney and are 5-2 all-time in Bridgestone Arena.
» Though they lost their last two games to the SEC’s top two teams, Florida out-rebounded both opponents and remain 13-4 when out-rebounding the opposition.
» Parsons needs only six points to reach 1,000 for his career.
» The Gators have made a three-pointer in a school-record 609 consecutive games beginning Jan. 11, 1992.
» Florida is 233-40 when forcing more turnovers than its opponents under Donovan.
» The Gators are 241-34 under Donovan when holding opponents to 70 points or less.
» Opponents are shooting just 32.2 percent from three-point range against Florida.
» Auburn is 2-9 away from home this season.
» The Tigers score 4.4 points more than the Gators on average but also give up 9.0 more points per game than Florida.
» Auburn has faced only three ranked opponents all season and have lost those games by an average of 13.7 points.

In a must-win game for the Gators, their frontcourt players stepped up from the get-go, scoring 42 of the team’s 78 points and amassing 23 of Florida’s 28 rebounds. Parsons, who led the Gators with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and four assists, had plenty of support from starting juniors F Alex Tyus (12 points, seven rebounds) and center Vernon Macklin (seven points, four rebounds). Surprisingly, it was Florida’s bench that truly made the difference as senior F Dan Werner went 3-for-5 for nine points and four boards and freshman F Erik Murphy contributed seven points on 3-of-3 shooting with three rebounds.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Auburn game story after the jump!

Werner began the game 2-for-2 from the field, his first baskets since facing Mississippi State on Feb. 6. His nine points were the most he had scored since putting up 11 against Vanderbilt on Jan. 9. Conversely, sophomore point guard Erving Walker had trouble hitting anything from the field. He finished 0-for-6 with six assists but managed to score 14 points off of 16 free throw attempts. Freshman guard Kenny Boynton added 10 points of his own and went 5-of-7 from the line to help the Gators finish an impressive 32-for-40 (80 percent) from the charity stripe.

Beginning the game with an early lead, Florida allowed Auburn to take over with a three-pointer from G Andre Malone with 6:47 left in the first half; it would be the last time the Tigers would lead on Thursday. Up three at the break, the Gators used a 10-1 run to open up a nine-point lead (52-43) with 13:51 left on the clock. A sequence of Werner driving the lane for a strong left-handed dunk and Tyus catching a powerful alley-oop got the Rowdy Reptiles on their feet. Riding the momentum, Florida would take a game-high 11-point lead with 9:39 remaining, though Auburn quickly responded with a 9-3 run on three straight three-pointers to cut its deficit to five with 5:45 left.

The Tigers used 7-2 run to reduce the Gators’ lead to 72-68 with only 47.9 ticks on the clock. Though they did not score a field goal in the last 8:26 of the game, Florida hit 15-of-20 free throws in the contest’s final minutes to pull out the home win.

G DeWayne Reed led Auburn with 22 points and six assists while G Tay Walker added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. F Lucas Hargrove finished with two points after going 0-for-3 from the field.

The Gators continue their stretch of three games in six days as they hit the road Saturday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at noon. The game will air live on CBS. Florida will then return home to host the Tennessee Volunteers at 9 p.m. on Feb. 23.