The Auburn Tigers — who have gotten off to a rocky start to SEC play under new head coach Steven Pearl — earned their biggest win of the season this weekend with a road victory over the defending national champion, the Florida Gators.

Auburn built a 15-point halftime lead and held on for a 76–67 win, improving to 4–3 in SEC play and keeping pace in the middle of the conference standings.

It was UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall leading the way on offense for the Tigers, scoring 24 points with seven rebounds and four assists, along with two steals as well.

Mississippi State transfer KeShawn Murphy had a wonderful afternoon himself with 16 points and nine rebounds. Tahaad Pettiford added 11 points and five assists as well. 

After the game, Pearl was able to recognize how much this victory meant to a Tigers team, one that is obviously talented but very much still growing, as he finds his footing as a head coach as well.

“Our team three weeks ago would not have won this game,” Pearl said in the postgame presser. “That just speaks to our growth as a team, our growth as a staff, and our kids willingness to stick together and really lock into the details of the things that we have been harping on every single day in practice and we’ve just continuously gotten better as a group.”

“For us, it’s about what we do from here. While we beat probably the best team in our league on the road…we can’t let this get us too high. If we let this thing affect us in a way that can distract us from the next one then it really doesn’t mean anything.”

Auburn will return home this week for a matchup on Wednesday night against Texas at Neville Arena.