Harper’s 20 gets No. 22 Auburn past Florida in SEC semis

Jared Harper connected on a deep 3-pointer from the right wing with 12.2 seconds left — his only field goal of the second half — and scored a team-high 20 points to lift No. 22 Auburn to a 65-62 victory over Florida on Saturday to advance to the finals of SEC tournament at Nashville, Tenn.

Auburn (25-9) will play the winner of the other semifinal game between Kentucky and Tennessee in the SEC tournament finals Sunday at the Bridgestone Arena.

Trailing 64-60, Florida guard Jalen Hudson dribbled the length of the court for a layup with seven seconds remaining to cut the Auburn lead to 64-62.

Harper took the inbounds pass and was fouled with 6.2 seconds remaining, and he made the first of two free throws to extend the Auburn lead to 65-62.

After Harper missed his second foul shot, Florida freshman guard Andrew Nembhard took an outlet pass and tried to throw up a 3-pointer from 30 feet in the middle of three Auburn defenders.

Nembhard appeared to draw contact, but his shot fell far short, as the game ended.

Florida (19-15) led 41-37 with 15:27 left, but Auburn went on a 14-6 run to take a 51-47 lead with 8:21 remaining. Chuma Okeke and Samir Doughty hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Auburn the lead, 47-44.

After Florida tied it at 47, the Tigers ran off another 7-0 spurt to take control. Bryce Brown did most of the damage with a layup and a 3-pointer.

The Gators then went scoreless for 6:22, finally getting a pair of free throws by Kevarrius Hayes to cut the deficit to 54-49 with 6:24 left. Florida went nearly eight minutes in the second half without a field goal.

After committing just two turnovers in the final 15 minutes of the first half, Florida self-destructed by turning the ball over 13 times in the second half.

Brown, who missed all five of his shots in the first half, had 13 second-half points for Auburn.

Florida, which lost despite shooting 60.5 percent for the game, was led by Hudson and Hayes with 16 points each.

Florida was 8 of 9 from the field while bolting to a 19-10 lead in the first 10 minutes, but Auburn finally got its perimeter shooting going, making four consecutive 3-pointers, three by Harper and one by J’Von McCormick, for a 12-0 run to take a 22-19 lead.

The Gators shot 70 percent from the field (14 of 20) in the first half but still led only 34-30. Auburn stayed within striking distance because of Harper’s sharp-shooting, making 4 of 5 from long range to lead all scorers with 16 first-half points.