Alex Tyus helped the Florida Gators top the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the SEC Tournament in a game that might have earned the Gators an NCAA Tournament berth. (Getty Images)

The Florida Gators (21-11, 10-7) managed to hang on late in the second half to knock off the Auburn Tigers (15-17, 6-11) in the first round of the SEC Basketball Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

The Gators opened up a nine-point lead at the half and was able keep in front of the Tigers throughout the second half, despite a few Auburn runs to pull the game close in the second half.

Florida's win over Auburn marked the first time the Tigers did not lead at some point in the second half all year. The Tigers were one of two teams to lead in the second half of every SEC game this year prior to Thursday night's game.

Florida played great defense and held Auburn to one of its worst three-point shooting nights of the year, keeping the Tigers at just 16 percent from behind the arc on 4-25 shooting.

The Gators managed to hold the SEC's hottest three point shooter, Auburn guard Tay Waller, scoreless in the game on 0-6 shooting.

At one point, Florida opened up a 14-point lead in the first half, on the strength of their frontcourt play. The frontcourt scored 33 of Florida's 40 first-half points.

Junior forward Chandler Parsons led the charge for the Gators, hitting his first three three-point attempts and scoring 13 first-half points for Florida. Alex Tyus also contributed 12 first-half points for the Gators.

Florida went into the half up 40-31 after outshooting the Tigers from the floor 56 percent to 41 percent in the first half.

But the Tigers battled back quickly in the second half and went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to one point before Florida got its first bucket of the half on a Parsons dunk.

The Gators then went on a 13-2 run of their own to open things back up after guard Kenny Boyton hit a trio of three pointers.

Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan did his best to keep Auburn in the game with a team-high 25 points, 13 of which came in the second half, but it wasn't enough for Auburn to overcome Florida's advantage in the paint.

Tyus scored a team-high 24 points for Florida, including 12 points in the second half to keep the Gators out in front of Auburn late in the game. __ of his points came on dunks.

The Gators closed the game out with some made free throws to win 78-69.

"I really felt like our team did a good job of finding each other, trying to get easy baskets for each other," Tyus said. "It really helped us out today."

The win for Florida sets up a rematch with the Mississippi State Bulldogs (21-10, 9-7) in the second round of the SEC Tournament tomorrow night.

"We've got to make sure we can build off this," Florida head coach Billy Donovan said. "Get some rest and prep work and make sure we're ready to play."

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