GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Patric Young made two free throws with 19 seconds left and Auburn threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play, helping the second-ranked Gators to a 71-66 victory Wednesday night.

With No. 1 Syracuse losing to Boston College 62-59 in overtime, Florida could move into the top spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.

The victory was Florida’s school-record 18th in a row and it kept the Gators (24-2, 13-0) perfect in SEC play. It was also Florida’s 31st consecutive home victory.

Young led the Gators with 17 points, all in the second half, and had seven rebounds. Casey Prather scored 16 points and Scottie Wilbekin had 15.

Tahj Shamsid-Deen led Auburn (12-12, 4-9) with 17 points. Chris Denson had 15 and K.T. Harrell 14.

After Young’s free throws put the Gators ahead 68-66, Harrell glanced up-court and never saw Allen Payne’s inbounds pass. The ball bounced out of bounds and the Gators sealed the victory from the free throw line.

Auburn nearly pulled the upset because of its three point shooting. The Tigers made 10 of 19 three-point shots, although they cooled off somewhat in the second half and made only 4 of 10. Auburn led 38-30 at halftime thanks to six three-pointers. The eight-point deficit was Florida’s largest halftime deficit of the season. The Gators’ previous largest deficit was three points against Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

Auburn led by as much as eight points early in the second half but the Gators worked their way back and the teams traded the lead into the final minute.

Florida took a 66-65 lead on Michael Frazier’s three-pointer with 40.5 seconds to play, but the Tigers tied the game on a free throw by Denson with 20 seconds remaining. Young grabbed the rebound on the missed foul shot and was immediately fouled.

Young, a 55.9 percent career free-throw shooter, hit his two free throws to give the Gators the lead for good. He added another free throw with four seconds to play to cap a monster second half.

LSU 92, MISSISSIPPI ST. 81

BATON ROUGE - Freshmen Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey combined for 39 points to lead LSU to a victory against Mississippi State.

Martin, who was 8 of 11 from the field, scored a season-high 20 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds, which matched his highest total in an SEC game. Mickey, who made a season-high 11 free throws, finished with 19 points.

Three other players scored at least 13 points for LSU (16-9, 7-6), which never trailed. Shavon Coleman scored 18 points, while Andre Stringer had 14 and Anthony Hickey 13. The 92 points were a season-high for the Tigers, who have won six consecutive conference games at home.

Craig Sword had a career-high 33 points for Mississippi State (13-13, 3-10), which has lost eight games in a row.

MISSOURI 67, VANDERBILT 64

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points, including all 11 free throw attempts, as Missouri held off Vanderbilt.

Earnest Ross added 16 points for the Tigers (19-7, 7-6 SEC), who survived an off-game from top scorer Jabari Brown in a match up of schools tied for fifth place in the conference. Brown, held to nine points on 3-for-11 shooting, averaged 23.9 points the previous 10 games including 22 the first meeting at Vanderbilt last month.

Damian Jones had 19 points and seven rebounds for Vanderbilt (14-11, 6-7).

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 71, South Carolina 64 Florida 71, Auburn 66 LSU 92, Mississippi State 81 Missouri 66, Vanderbilt 64

TODAY’S GAME All times Central Alabama at Texas A&M, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES Florida at Mississippi, 11 a.m.

Georgia at South Carolina, 12:30 p.m.

Tennessee at Texas A&M, 2 p.m.

Arkansas at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.

LSU at Kentucky, 3 p.m.

Vanderbilt at Auburn, 5 p.m.

Missouri at Alabama, 7 p.m.

Sports, Pages 20 on 02/20/2014