Wendell Green ended the first half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to stop an 8-0 run by the Gators and finished the game with a layup during Auburn’s 61-58 win on Wednesday against Florida.

Green scored 14 points and was second on the team with five rebounds. Johni Broome led the team with 11 rebounds and tied Green with 14 points. Broome’s work on defense, combined with Dylan Cardwell, went a long way toward holding Gator center Colin Castleton to six points on 1-6 shooting.

Castleton entered the game averaging 15.8 points and was preseason All-SEC. Head coach Bruce Pearl emphasized the matchup because Castleton scored 21 points last season in an Auburn win at then-Auburn Arena and 19 points in an Auburn loss at Florida last season.

“Yeah, I saw it,” Broome said about Pearl telling reporters he was tired of Castleton beating up on Auburn. “You know, coming into the game, coming into Auburn, those are one of the games you had circled on the calendar. Good matchup. He’s a good player. But the main goal of the game plan was to stop him. And as you can see, 1 for 6. Not letting him get the ball was pretty big too. When he gets the ball, making his shot tough, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Auburn (11-2, 1-0) trailed 26-23 at half after Green’s deep three. Auburn struggled with their offense. During the first half, the Tigers had a 28.6 shooting percentage (8-28) and turned the ball over 12 times. Winning the rebounding battle 40-28 helped the Tigers overcome shooting 3-14 from three.

“That’s what’s special about this team: We rebound the basketball,” Broome said. “You’ve got the PG over here getting five rebounds. That’s big. You know, just being able to have 11 rebounds, leading the team, setting the tone, dominating the glass. It gives people like Wen the green light to shoot the ball. If he shoots it, we’re going to most likely get the rebound.”

Auburn shot the ball better in the second half with 48.1 percent on 13-27 shooting. It took a turnover in the last minute to seal the game. Broome and Williams double-team Castleton with less than six seconds left, leading to a steal by Chris Moore. Williams was Auburn’s third player in double-digits with 13 points on 5-11 shooting and 1-3 from three.

Green converted the turnover into a bucket giving the Tigers a 61-58 final score.

Jaylin Williams pulls a chair, kind of takes that charge, makes a play, and then Castleton gets off balance,” Pearl said. “And then it’s a 50-50 ball, I believe Chris comes up with it, and we score. Just a great way to — you’ve got to make plays. None of this sitting back. You’ve got to make plays. You’ve got to create turnovers. And that wins, defensively, and obviously it did for us.

“They had nine assists and 12 turnovers, didn’t shoot it very well from 3 and we ended the game with a defensive stop and a turnover.”

Florida head coach Todd Golden started his coaching career at Auburn under Pearl. Golden is also close friends with assistant coach Steven Pearl. Golden worked at Auburn from 2014-16 as director of basketball operations and assistant coach.

Pearl coached Golden in the 2009 Maccabiah Games for the USA team that won a gold medal. Golden also played with Steven on the team. Auburn starts its SEC slate with a win that was a little bittersweet for Pearl, who considers Golden as a son and is one of Steven’s closest friends.

“I root for him. There’s absolutely no joy in beating him today, at all. I’d have been upset if we lost because it was a game that we had to have,” Pearl said. “Florida came in here and — I’m sure he went into his locker room and had to praise those guys for coming in here and almost knocking off a nationally ranked team.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group