NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On a similar makeshift podium last year in the bowels of the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., Jeff Lebo stumped for his team’s candidacy as an at-large NCAA Tournament team with the gusto of a politician.

He did no such thing when it came to discussing his tenuous job security after Auburn’s 78-69, season-ending loss to Florida on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

His players filled the void for him.

“He’s a great coach,” senior forward Lucas Hargrove said. “Going into the new arena, I feel like he should definitely have a chance.

“I think he should get many more years.”

Lebo’s end-of-season meeting with athletic director Jay Jacobs will expectedly come earlier than both had hoped. The Tigers bowed out of the SEC Tournament after the first round for the fourth time in Lebo’s six-year tenure and they are all but assured to go without any sort of postseason invitation for the fifth time in the past six.

Asked to defend his body of work, which includes a 96-93 overall record and a 37-67 mark against SEC opponents, Lebo said it wasn’t the right time.

“We just got done with the game,” Lebo said. “I haven’t really thought about the body of work.”

Auburn’s performance Thursday typified this particular season’s disappointing body of work.

The effort was gritty from the start, when Frankie Sullivan opened with an easy layup, to the end, when DeWayne Reed drove, untouched, coast-to-coast only to botch a dunk as the horn sounded on Auburn’s season.

It was also marred with inconsistencies, the bugaboos that frequently cropped up to produce results such as a 107-89 loss to Sam Houston State, or regressed briefly during a near upset of No. 2 Kentucky.

Sullivan, the sophomore who came into Thursday’s game with a combined 8 points in the previous two, scored a career-high 27 points. His constant drives to the basket drew “oohs” and “ahs” from the largely pro-Auburn crowd and provided a glimmer of hope for the future, when Sullivan will be the lone returning starter on next year’s team.

But then there was Tay Waller, who came into Thursday’s game red hot, averaging 25.6 points in his past five games.

He finished with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting.

“Just a unique thing for Tay with the way he’s been playing,” Lebo said. “To not score in this game … you wouldn’t have that if we played 30 more games.”

On Wednesday, Florida (21-11) coach Billy Donovan pointed out to reporters that Auburn was the only SEC team — aside from Kentucky, of course — that held a lead or a tie in the second half of all its conference games.

So it was somewhat fitting that the Tigers would do neither in the second half Thursday.

Florida stormed out to a big, early lead thanks to a 20-5 run. Aside from a few tense moments, like when the Tigers got as close as 42-41 with a 10-2 run to start the second half, the Gators had complete control from beginning to end.

Auburn (15-17) made just four of its 25 3-point attempts, while allowing Florida to pick up seemingly endless easy dunks and layups in the paint.

“With a shooting team, if you can try to disrupt their flow a little earlier, you can disrupt some 3’s from going in early,” Donovan said. “Sometimes you have a better chance of stopping it.”

Nothing will stop the swirling speculation of Lebo’s job status in the coming days. It won’t go away until a verdict is reached after Lebo’s meeting with Jacobs, which could happen as soon as today.

Along with the fans, Auburn’s players will be waiting for an answer.

“I like playing for him. He’s a great coach,” Sullivan said. “Whatever happens, happens.”

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