Florida Gators vs. Auburn Tigers NCAAB Preview
Where: Auburn Arena – Auburn, AL
When: Tuesday, February 14, 2017 – 8:00 PM ET
Line: Florida Gators (-10) vs. Auburn Tigers (+10) – view all NCAAB lines
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Betting on the Florida Gators (20-5, 10-2 SEC)
The Gators should be entering the game with an extra bounce in their steps. They are riding high with a six-game winning streak (5-1 ATS), and they boast an average winning margin of 24.8 points during that span.
Such domination has earned the team to jump into fifth place in the nation’s defensive efficiency rankings. Florida proved on Saturday that they are worthy of that label by dominating Texas A&M, 71-62. In the win, they held the Aggies to 39.3 percent shooting, while also having them commit 20 turnovers.
Those two stat categories – low field goal percentage and high amount of turnovers – are regular fixtures among Florida games this year, and it shows how imposing their defense can be. Their opponents have either shot below 40 percent or turned the ball over 15 or more times in 18 of 25 games this season.
Though not as intimidating on offense – 79 PPG, 22nd in efficiency – the Gators are clearly not short of skilled and dangerous offensive players. Sophomore Kevaughn Allen has done a good job answering the call of being the team’s new go-to guy (13.1 PPG), and he’s getting help from Canyon Barry (12.7 PPG) and Devin Robinson (11.6 PPG).
Betting on the Auburn Tigers (16-9, 5-7 SEC)
It seems that the Tigers peaked when they won 10 of their first 12 games on the season. They were not the same after that and have only gone 6-7 since (SU and ATS).
Poor defense, of course, is a primary reason for the decline. Among all big-named schools, Auburn is one of the worst in giving up in points – 78.2 points allowed per game, 304th in the nation (83.8 in their last 10). Additionally, they are also just the 98th in defensive efficiency.
In the 90-84 loss to Ole Miss over the weekend, their terrible D was on full display and it caused them another winnable game. Despite shooting well from the floor, which includes dropping 13 triples, they flat out couldn’t stop Rebels guard Terrence Davis, who went a perfect 11-for-11 from two for a career-high 26 points.
If they don’t make the necessary adjustments, the same could happen Tuesday night, as Kevaughn Allen and company are more than capable of taking advantage of lowly defenses.
Although the Tigers have three good offense-minded players in Mustapha Heron (15.3 PPG), Jared Harper (12.3 PPG), and Danjel Purifoy (11.5 PPG), who also combined for almost six treys per game, they are not sure-fire efficient offensive players. All three are combining to post a mediocre 41.1 percent shooting.
Writer’s Prediction
Florida (-10) wins, 80-75.
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