Auburn basketball is human after all.

The Tigers had lost before, but not this badly. Yes, the Appalachian State defeat in December was disappointing, but the Mountaineers aren't an embarrassment − they're currently ranked No. 89 by KenPom − and the four losses Auburn had through its first 23 games came by a combined 21 points. There was no bad loss.

That was until Florida dropped the Tigers in the O'Connell Center on Wednesday, 81-65. Virtually nothing went right for Auburn, as it shot 32.3% in the first half and found itself down by as many as 29 points with 13:55 remaining.

Even the rate from the foul line, where Auburn has been improved this season, was putrid at 53.8%.

"There were a lot of things that we really talked about doing that we just did not get done," coach Bruce Pearl said on the postgame radio. "Like, holy cow. What have we been doing the last day and a half?"

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Auburn, despite the loss, remains in the hunt for a regular-season SEC title. Alabama and South Carolina jumped the Tigers in the conference standings, but Auburn will get a shot at the Gamecocks in Neville Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

Making good on that opportunity versus South Carolina will require the Tigers to quickly get over the uncharacteristic performance at Florida. In theory, Auburn's camaraderie should help that happen.

"This is the closest team I’ve ever been on," backup center Dylan Cardwell said Jan. 20. "... It all started back in the summer when Bruce Pearl was adamant about us eating together, hanging out together (and) making sure that we’re always together.

"It’s a very tight-knit group. Everybody talks to everybody, and that’s kind of rare. We all hang out. There’s no cliques on this team. It’s just fun to be on a team that everyone’s your genuine friend and your genuine brother, so that’s kind of where I see the difference in the past couple years."

It's easy to discuss team chemistry when you're winning, though. The Tigers had just picked up their 11th-consecutive victory when Cardwell made that statement. Auburn, to be fair, showed some grit after back-to-back losses last month − the Tigers earned two Quadrant 1 wins after losing to Alabama and Mississippi State − but even those defeats were narrow at a combined 10 points.

Auburn hasn't had to respond to a double-digit loss this season, and the only reason the final margin wasn't worse against the Gators was due to the 14-4 run in which the Tigers closed the game.

Fans are about to quickly see what Auburn is made of with that game against South Carolina. Kentucky and ESPN's "College GameDay" will follow soon after that. There are rarely days off in the thick of the SEC slate, and the togetherness Auburn's players have talked about all season long is about to be put to the test.

"This math is going to hurt us, but it's not going to destroy us," Pearl said of his team's NCAA Tournament resume. "The math is going to really help Todd (Golden) and the Gators. I'm glad our guys kept playing. Florida kept playing. We were able to close it down, but nobody is proud of a 16-point loss."

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball's chemistry will be tested following Florida loss