The Gators Men's Basketball team beat Aubun last night 78-69 in the first round of the SEC tournament. Some say this puts them in the dance; here is one Gatorsfirst author's take on the matter. Either way, last night was a great win for the gators with many players stepping up to the challenge. The Gators played like it was a &must win& game, which it was. The first &must win& game of the season, despite many saying the last five regular season games were &must win&.

The big story for Auburn was Tay Waller going 0-6 with 0 points and 4 fouls. Waller averaged over 20 points a game in the final games of the regular season for Auburn, but could not connect against the Gators.

The beginning of the game was all about Parsons who lead the Gators to a 10 point lead in the first seven minutes. He looked like he was on a mission penetrating and shooting from outside. This could be a great sign for the Gators if Parsons has learned to play through double teams, which have given him a lot of problems recently. Of course, his success could be because we were playing the undersized Auburn guards. Auburn's first half consisted of a Frankie Sullivan only offense, who ended with a career high 27 points. Despite Sullivan's play the Gators lead by as much as 14 in the first half and ended the half up 9.

The Gators started the second half cold with no points in the first four minutes; letting Auburn cut the lead to 1 point. Auburn kept the game close from that point until Kenny Boyton hit three 3-point shots in a row in less than two minutes in the middle of the second half. From that point on Auburn never cut the lead to less than 5 with the Gators trading baskets with Auburn in the waning minutes. Tyus scored at will when he had one on one opportunities with seemingly all of his 24 points coming from dunks. One potential cause for concern was Parsons' free throw shooting at the end of the game. Around the three minute mark he missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities that could have been costly if Auburn would have scored at either opportunity. As a guard/forward that is going to be in at the end of the game, he needs to shoot better. The Gators closed the game out with Walker and Werner (who hit a 3-yeah!) shooting 100 percent from the free throw line and Parsons with a dunk in transition. Auburn did a decent job of scoring at the end, but the Gators solid free throw shooting did not let them back in the game.

The Gators take on Mississippi State tonight at 7:30pm for the second round of the SEC tournament. The game is listed to be televised on SEC network.