GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Omar Payne was an afterthought in Florida's highly touted recruiting class, which featured high school All-Americans Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann.
No one expected Payne to start, let along star, in any games this season. So his performance against Auburn was a bigger shock than the final score.
Payne had the best game of his college career, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds, as the Gators (12-5, 4-1) routed the fourth-ranked Tigers 69-47 on Saturday.
"Elite," teammate and fellow big man Kerry Blackshear Jr. said. "Great on both ends of the floor. His energy was great. We fed off his energy. He was a big reason why we were able to get this win."
It was Florida's first victory against a top-five team since beating then-No. 2 Michigan State in 2009. It was the 14th time this season that an unranked team knocked off a top-five opponent.
It surely will bolster Florida's NCAA Tournament resume considering Coach Mike White's team hadn't beaten a top-40 team in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings.
Auburn (15-2, 3-2), meanwhile, has lost two in a row following a torrid start. This one ended with the program's fourth-fewest points under Coach Bruce Pearl.
"Obviously, there's a pretty big price on our head," Pearl said. "We're ranked fourth in the country. Obviously, that's not going to last much longer. I think we've got to respond to the step up that we saw this week from both Alabama and Florida."
Pearl gave Payne, Blackshear and point guard Andrew Nembhard credit for continually breaking down his team's defense. He also placed some blame on his starting backcourt of Samir Doughty and J'Von McCormick, who combined for 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and three turnovers. The duo was 2 for 10 from three-point range.
Danjel Purifoy led the Tigers with 10 points.
ALABAMA 88, MISSOURI 74
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- John Petty scored 20 points and Alex Reese and Jaden Shackelford each had 17 to lead Alabama to an 88-74 victory over Missouri on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (10-7, 3-2) built a 12-point second-half lead and then withstood challenges to punctuate a week that included handing No. 4 Auburn its first loss. The final margin was the game's biggest.
Missouri (9-8, 1-4) pulled to within three points several times, the last on Reed Nikko's basket with 6:34 left. That was as close as the Tigers could come despite making all 31 free throw attempts.
That foul shot success set an SEC mark. The league's previous high for free throw perfection came when Florida made all 27 attempts against Tennessee in 1994.
SOUTH CAROLINA 81,
TEXAS A&M 67
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Jair Bolden scored 19 points and South Carolina defeated Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks made 16-of-30 of their three-point attempts (53.3%), in keeping the Aggies at arms' length for most of the second part of the second half. The Aggies, one of the nation's worst three-point shooting teams, finished 3-of-14 from 3-point range (21.4%), in failing to keep up with South Carolina down the stretch.
The Gamecocks (10-7, 2-2) led 39-33 at halftime thanks to 10 points each from Justin Minaya and Bolden over the first 20 minutes. The Aggies (8-8, 2-3) briefly grabbed a lead at 49-48 nearly midway through the second half before the Gamecocks reclaimed the lead for good, primarily thanks to the long shot (10 of 18 from the three-point line in the second half).
Minaya added 18 points and Jermaine Couisnard chipped in 17 for the Gamecocks, who held a 38-27 rebounding edge.
TENNESSEE 66,
VANDERBILT 45
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Jordan Bowden scored 21 points, and the Volunteers beat Vanderbilt for their fifth consecutive win against the Commodores for their longest winning streak in this in-state rivalry in 38 years.
Tennessee (11-6, 3-2) won 10 in a row against Vanderbilt between 1978 and 1982, and now these Volunteers also have won four in a row at Memorial Gym and pulled within 54-53 of Vanderbilt inside the SEC's oldest gym.
Yves Pons and John Fulkerson each scored 12 points for Tennessee.
Vanderbilt (8-9, 0-4) snapped a streak of 1,080 consecutive games making at least one three-pointer, which spanned 34 years.
The Commodores also lost their 22nd consecutive conference game during the regular season, a skid that started under former Coach Bryce Drew. That ties the second-longest skid in SEC history, matching Alabama's 22-game skid between 1960 and 1970 and is just two away from matching Sewanee's mark of 24 consecutive losses between 1938 and 1940.
Scotty Pippen Jr. led Vandy with 16 points. Saben Lee added 14, and the junior became the 49th Commodore to reach 1,000 career points. He's scored 1,011.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 91,
GEORGIA 59
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Reggie Perry and Tyson Carter combined for 40 points to lead Mississippi State to an easy victory over Georgia.
Perry collected 22 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists to pace Mississippi State (11-6, 2-3). Perry was 9 of 13 from the floor and has now scored 20 points or more in four of his last six games.
Carter added 18 points highlighted by a 4-of-7 shooting beyond the arc. Robert Woodard II added 17 points for Mississippi State while Nick Weatherspoon had 12 points and a career-high eight assists.
Georgia (11-6, 1-3) was led by Anthony Edwards' 19 points on just 5-of-16 shooting. Toumani Camara and Rayshaun Hammonds each had 10 points for Georgia.
LSU 80, MISSISSIPPI 76
OXFORD, Miss. -- Javonte Smart scored 20 points as LSU wiped out a six-point deficit in the final seven minutes to defeat Mississippi.
LSU (13-4, 5-0) converted 24 of 27 free throws (88.9%), including two apiece by Marlon Taylor and Skylar Mays in the final 24 seconds to complete the comeback. Emmitt Williams scored 17 points while Mays and Taylor had 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Breein Tyree had a career-high 36 points for Ole Miss (9-8, 0-4), including a layup for a 67-61 lead with 6:57 left before the decisive rally by LSU.
Blake Hinson scored 13 points and Khadim Sy added 10 points for Mississippi.
Tyree was 9 of 9 from the free-throw line but the Rebels finished a season-worst 9 of 19 (47%), including seven consecutive misses to open the second half. Ironically, Ole Miss went into the game leading the SEC in free throw percentage, hitting 45 of 53 (85%) in conference play, before cooling off against the Tigers.
LSU shot 24 of 57 (42%) from the floor, including 8 of 21 (38%) from three-point range, including four by Smart.
Sports on 01/19/2020