For the second time in the 2024-2025 season, the Florida Gators have taken down the No. 1 team in the country. Florida traveled to the Plains to take on the No. 1 Auburn Tigers, thoroughly handling the nation’s top team 90-81. The Gators picked up their first win in program history over a No. 1 team earlier this season when they beat top-ranked Tennessee 73-43. Now, the Gators are just the fifth team all-time to beat different number 1 teams in a season

The Gators led by as much as 21 points and had five players score in double-digits, led by 19 from Walter Clayton Jr. He added nine assists and six rebounds. Clayton extended his program-record consecutive three-pointers streak to 45 games.

“(This is) Probably the toughest place to play in America right now, against the best team in America, and we showed out for 40 minutes,” head coach Todd Golden said during his postgame radio interview. “I thought we were the mentally and physically tougher team.”

The Tigers came out of the gates hot, building a 10-point first-half lead, but the Gators would storm back and went into the break with a 10-point lead of their own after a pair of Alex Condon free throws.

The second half would be all Florida, led by 12 second-half points from Condon, who finished the game with 17 points. The Gators also received double-digit efforts from Clayton (19), Thomas Haugh (16), Will Richard (12), and Denzel Aberdeen (10).  Florida’s lead reached 21 points with 14:21 remaining in regulation. Fueled by a sold-out crowd, some of who had camped out for days to get into the arena  A second-chance three-pointer by Miles Kelly cut Florida’s lead to nine with 8:33 to play. Florida would hold on to the lead and walked away with a total team win, improving to 20-3 (7-3 SEC) on the season.

The Gators still have eight games left in the 2024-25 regular season. The Gators will stay on the road this week with a trip to face No. 11 Mississippi State before returning home to host South Carolina.

Thursday TidBITS with Walter Clayton

Each week Florida Victorious is giving our members a chance to talk directly to our men and women that make up the Florida Victorious athlete roster. In January, we sat down with Walter Clayton, who answered questions for more than an hour

You can read that below.

Thursday TidBITS with Walter Clayton

Notes

• Florida earned its first road win vs. #1 in program history, as Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators with 19 points and Alex Condon earned a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
  • After falling behind 15-5 in the early minutes, Florida outscored Auburn 43-23 over the final 14:00 of the first half to take a 48-38 lead into the break.
  • The Gators pushed their lead as large as 21 in the second half.
• Thomas Haugh added 16 points off the bench. Will Richard scored 12, and Denzel Aberdeen tallied 10 in his second consecutive start.
• Florida improves to 4-17 all-time vs. the AP #1 team, including 2-0 this season, and 1-8 on the road.
• Florida became the fifth team all-time to post wins against two different #1 teams in a season.
  • 2024-25, Florida; Tennessee, at Auburn
  • 2022-23, Alabama; vs. North Carolina, at Houston
  • 2021-22, Arkansas; vs. Gonzaga, Auburn
  • 1992-93, Georgia Tech; Duke, vs. North Carolina
  • 1989-90, Oklahoma; Kansas, Missouri
• With his first basket today – a logo 3 – Clayton reached the 1,000-point mark as a Gator and now sits at 1,017 points for UF. He is the 57th player all-time to score 1,000 points at Florida, the fifth to reach the milestone within his first two seasons at UF and the 15th to do so over any two-season span (first since Kenny Boynton, 2011-13).
• Clayton also extended his UF record streak to 45 straight appearances with a 3-point field goal.
• After using the same starting five for the first 21 games, the Gators have had a new starting lineup in each of the past two games. Aberdeen made his second consecutive start, filling in for Alijah Martin, who missed Saturday’s contest.
• Condon has posted a double-double in both of Florida’s wins vs. #1 this season (12 points, 12 rebounds vs. Tennessee).
• Urban Klavžar hit three 3-pointers, including two in a 13-second span in the second half to push UF’s lead to 21. He finishes the week 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
• Florida snapped Auburn’s 14-game winning streak and gave the Tigers their first home loss of the season.
• The win marked Florida’s third double-digit comeback of the season, overcoming an early 15-5 deficit. It’s UF’s third of the season and 11th under Golden.
• The win was Florida’s eighth all-time in a top-10 matchup (8-18) and first on the road (1-11).