GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Taurean Green helps No. 2
The sophomore point guard shoots, drives, passes, plays defense, starts the break, runs the offense and leads the press. He also makes nearly every free throw -- something the second-ranked Gators needed Saturday against Auburn.
Green scored 21 points, including 12 from the free throw line, and Florida remained unbeaten with a 69-57 victory over the Tigers.
"I hope we don't jinx him," Gators coach Billy Donovan said.
Green made six free throws over the final 5:25 to help the Gators (16-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) extend the best start and longest winning streak in school history.
He finished 12-of-12 from the line, made three 3-pointers and led Florida in scoring for the second consecutive game. He improved to 80-of-91 from the free throw line this season.
"The one thing I respect about Taurean is he always finds a way to go get the ball," Donovan said. "That's a skill in itself. Sometimes the worst feeling in the world as a coach is when your point guard doesn't break that hard or your point guard is tired and doesn't maybe have that inner drive and toughness to say, You know what, I'm not going to be denied by anybody.' He does that."
The game was close until the Gators put together a 10-0 spurt midway through the second half, a run that included seven points from Chris Richard.
Richard had a dunk, a turnaround jumper in the lane, a free throw and a layup during the stretch, which turned a 49-47 lead into a 12-point advantage.
The Tigers (8-6, 0-3) were helpless to slow it down, too, because Frank Tolbert used the team's final timeout during a loose ball scramble with 10:47 to play.
Tolbert's slam off a rebound made it 49-47 with about 12 minutes left, but the Tigers scored 10 points the rest of the way. They blamed the drought on fatigue caused by having to beat Florida's constant press.
"We had a hard time near the end," Auburn coach Jeff Lebo said.
Tolbert hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play and finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He had eight turnovers.
Florida won despite an off shooting night from its guards.
Green and Lee Humphrey were a combined 6-of-20 from the field, including 6-of-17 from behind the arc. Backups David Huertas and Walter Hodge were a combined 0-for-6.
"They're going to have bad shooting nights," Donovan said. "This was one of our worst shooting performances of the year and we found a way to win."
The Gators picked it up inside. Horford made six of seven shots, Richard keyed the second-half run and Joakim Noah had 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
"We had to play with a small lineup compared to Florida," Lebo said. "They are long, big guys and you can really see the difference in their guys and our guys in the post."
Auburn lost its third in a row and remained winless in five road games.
"This was a hard loss to swallow," said Auburn's Josh Dollard, who had 12 points. "We really wanted this game and we felt we had a chance to win it."
