Walter Clayton Jr. will be back as No. 6 Gators travel to No. 1 Auburn

Leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. (1) will return to the lineup against Auburn (Photo by Chris Spears)

The problem starts with Johni Broome but it doesn’t end there. Broome is a lock for Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and first team All-America, but he isn’t No. 1 Auburn’s only stud. The Tigers (21-1, 9-0 SEC) have four other senior starters, every one of them a challenge to defend.

It would be so much simpler if Florida coach Todd Golden only had to devise a game plan to neutralize Broome but Auburn comes at opponents in waves. Beyond the five starters the 6th-ranked Gators have to contend with today (4 p.m., ESPN2), there is a deep and talented bench not to mention a loud, intimidating crowd at Neville Arena. 

“They are number one in offensive efficiency right now,” Golden said Friday. “They have Johni who is playing like the best player in America right now. They are so big and long everywhere. Denver Jones is playing point guard for them and he's 6-4 with great length. (Chad) Baker-Mazara is super long and a really good athlete. They have another really long good athlete in Miles Kelly, who is an elite shooter. They just have NBA caliber studs across the board. (Tahaad) Pettiford would be the one guy they have that is a little undersized for his position, but everybody else they play is super long and athletic.

“They play really, really hard. They are very physical. I think they are very disruptive defensively. They do an incredible job on the offensive glass. They are just really good in all facets. That's why they are the No. 1 team in America. I guess the one thing you could say is they are like 12th or 13th defensively in the country right now, which, you know, is also really dang good, but again, going on the road on their floor, this is a great opportunity for us. Let's see if we can minimize their offensive efficiency a little bit. We'll see if we can keep them off the glass. We've got to turn them over a little bit and create some transition opportunities. We have to play really, really well, obviously, to go in there and find a way to get it done."

Whereas Auburn is playing so well that many college basketball experts see the Tigers as a legitimate threat to run the SEC table (18-0), the Gators have the personnel to spring the upset if everything goes well. For one thing, Walter Clayton Jr. will be back in the lineup. Clayton sprained an ankle in the first half last Saturday at Tennessee, tweaked it late in the second half and then sat out Tuesday’s win over Vanderbilt. Clayton (17.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists) is such a threat to take over a game that the Gators are capable of beating anyone in the country when he heats it up.

Clayton could have played against Vanderbilt, but seeing what’s ahead on Florida’s schedule, Golden elected to sit him.

“In that moment, also knowing we have No. 1 on the road Saturday and then we go to Mississippi State next Tuesday, we’re in really difficult part of our schedule,” Golden said. “So Tuesday was really, really important and really proud of our guys stepping up and finding a way to win that game and giving Walt an extra few days to get back close to 100%. He’s right there. I think you'll see Walt at his best tomorrow.”

Others may be required to pick up the slack against Auburn, not for Clayton but for Alijah Martin. Martin suffered a hip pointer in the first half against Vanderbilt. He went to the locker room for a few minutes but came back, scoring eight critical points in the second half when the Gators turned a white knuckler into a comfortable lead.

Martin was unable to practice Wednesday and Thursday. Golden anticipates that Martin will be ready to answer the bell against Auburn, but if he is limited or unable to go the Gators do have options. Denzel Aberdeen, who scored 13 points and played 35 minutes without turning the ball over in Clayton’s absence, is a proven commodity off the bench. Against Vandy, freshman Urban Klavzar drilled a pair of 3-pointers that helped fuel the run the Gators made to separate.

"I think Alijah will be out there, I do,” Golden said. “Now, if he has a bad reaction today in practice today or something, then we'll adjust and we'll figure it out. Fortunately, I thought Denzel did a wonderful job on Tuesday stepping up when we needed somebody to. And I think he'd be capable of doing it again if we needed him too, but I think we'll be pretty much full strength going into this game."

Besides containing Broome (18.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists per game) the Gators are going to have to find a way to contain Chad Baker-Mazara (13 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists), Denver Jones (10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, Miles Kelly (10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds per game) and Tahaad Pettiford (11.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists) off the bench.

Kelly is a particular concern. He is a 41.2 percent shooter from the 3-point line who is capable of games when everything he throws up at the rim finds the bottom of the net.

"For him, I think the key is just limiting his 3-point opportunities,” Golden said. “He is an elite NBA shooter and he's got great size and a high release. To be honest, what I see from Auburn now from when I worked there, I think they run really good stuff to take advantage of their personnel. And they've done a good job finding ways to get Miles to a lot of threes. And he's a guy that's shooting 47 from two and 42 from three, so obviously you want to get him inside the arc when you can and make a finish over your length at the rim. But he's a special shooter, and he can make off balance shots coming off screens. If we walk out of that game and he only made one three, we'll probably have been able to compete a little bit. If we walk out of there, and he's made four or five, it's probably not gonna be a good sign for us. But I'd say that's one of the many factors on the defensive side of the ball that if we can just limit his opportunities and make him play inside the three, that'll increase our odds, for sure."

Game notes: Clayton is two points away from 1,000 in his Florida career. He scored 778 in two years at Iona and 998 at Florida, an average of 14.6 for 121 career games … Clayton has made at least one 3-pointer in 44 consecutive games, a Florida record … Martin is averaging 15.4 points per game while Will Richard is scoring at a 13.4 clip. Alex Condon averaged 10.8 points and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game … The Gators are No. 5 in both the NCAA NET rankings and kenpom.com analytics. Auburn is No. 1 in both … The Gators are tied for third nationally in 3-point defense (28 percent), fourth in fast break points (17.5 per game), fourth in average scoring margin (17.6 per game), third in rebounding (43.5 per game) and fifth in offensive rebounding (14.77 per game).

Anticipated starting lineups

No. 6 FLORIDA (19-3, 6-3 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

No. 1 Auburn (21-1, 9-0 SEC): Johni Broome (6-10, 240, SR); Dylan Cardwell (6-11, 255, SR); Chad Baker-Mazara (6-7, 180, SR); Miles Kelly (6-6, 190, SR); Denver Jones (6-4, 205, SR)