Florida basketball coach Todd Golden and Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl now know each other well enough to dissect each other's tendencies.
Pearl and Golden have gone head-to-head as coaches with the Florida Gators and Auburn four times in the last three seasons, with a 2-2 split in the series.
Stakes will be much higher when Florida faces Auburn at the Final Four on Saturday at the Alamodome (cap. 68,000) in San Antonio, Texas (6:09 p.m., CBS). Emotions will remain high, as Golden worked under Pearl from 2014-16 and remains close friends with him and his son, Steven.
"One of us will have an opportunity to play for national championship on Monday," Golden said. "One of us will be able to say our program went to the Final Four. I think both teams and programs have a lot to be proud of, and I'm incredibly happy for them that they're in this position as well."
In their last meeting, Florida upset then-No. 1 Auburn 90-81 in Neville Arena, a game in which UF trailed by seven points early before leading by as many as 21 points in the second half.
"Both teams have probably changed quite a bit since February 8th, when we played against each other," Golden said. "But I do think our first game gives us some confidence going into Saturday's tilt that we've played well against this team ...
"They're going to have some tricks up their sleeve and some things they want to do differently this time around. We’ve going to have to adjust as well.
Here are three storylines to watch in UF's matchup with the Tigers:
Can Florida basketball guard Walter Clayton Jr. continue to seize the moment on the Final Four stage?
The 6-foot-3 Clayton has played like the first-team All-American he was named before the start of the NCAA Tournament, averaging 22.3 points and 2.8 assists through four NCAA Tournament games. He earned region MVP honors in San Francisco and sank big 3-pointers down the stretch to help UF rally from a six-point, second-half deficit in the Round of 32 against UConn and 10-point deficit in the second half of the Elite Eight against Texas Tech.
Clayton scored 19 points and dished nine assists in his first meeting against Auburn, going 6-for-11 from the floor and 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
"He never gets too high or too low and I don’t anticipate that changing before this weekend," Golden said. "I think he’s gonna absorb it. I think he's gonna take it all in and continue to compete at a really, really good level and not let it detour him from his focus of trying to lead us to a national championship.”
Who will win the battle of the banged up big men?
In the last meeting between the two schools, Florida's 6-11 Alex Condon (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Auburn's 6-10 Johni Broome (18 points, 11 rebounds), both posted double-doubles. But Condon was the more efficient scorer, going 7-for-10 from the floor, while Broome went 8-for-19. Condon defended Broome one-and-one in the post, often taking the Plant City native out of his comfort zone.
Broome suffered an elbow injury in Auburn's Elite Eight game and returned, while ...
