AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn Men’s Basketball opened the season in Neville Arena vs Vermont, a game that many labeled as a potential trap game for the 11th-ranked Tigers. However, Auburn came out ready and left no doubt, hammering the Catamounts in a 94-43 beatdown.
The Tigers started hot behind forward Chad Baker-Mazara, who scored the first five Auburn points of the night. Auburn followed with gritty buckets and free throws from Denver Jones and Johni Broome to get to the ten-point mark.
At the other end of the court, Vermont’s Ileri Ayo-Faleye went to work down low. The big forward, last year third team All-America East Conference, scored the first seven points of the game for the Catamounts, keeping them in the game as the score hit 10-7. However, that would be the last bright spot of the night for Vermont, because Auburn proceeded to shoot the lights out.
The Auburn squad that struggled mightily with shooting from beyond the arc last season was nowhere to be seen as three after three rained down from Tiger guards, and even Tiger forwards Johni Broom and Baker-Mazara.
In the first half, Furman transfer JP Pegues went 2-2 from three, Georgia Tech transfer Miles Kelly 2-4, Baker-Mazara 3-6, and Johni Broome 1-2. The result was a commanding 46-21 halftime lead for Auburn, and the Catamounts were on life support.
The Auburn onslaught continued in the second half as Johni Broome stole the ball on the opening inbound and slammed it home for a dunk. Then, the Auburn shooters picked up where they left off. Broome knocked one down, and then Denver Jones scored nine straight after an old-fashioned three point play and two more threes.
Miles Kelly then took what fight was left in the Catamounts and absolutely obliterated it. Kelly went 5-5 from beyond the arc in a four minute span, drawing louder and louder screams from the Auburn faithful. It felt like Kelly could do absolutely no wrong, no matter where he let the ball fly from.
“After the fourth [three-pointer] I kind of just blacked out,” Kelly said. “Everything I threw up was going in, and my teammates did a good job of finding me. I just knocked the shots down.”
If that wasn’t enough, freshman Jahki Howard delivered a devastating windmill dunk on the fast break after Kelly’s fourth three that made Neville Area erupt in a way not matched since Jaylin Williams’ hammer versus Alabama last season. After the fifth three from Kelly, Auburn’s lead sat at 81-27 and the Catamounts were truly finished.
Kelly led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points, all from behind the arc. Close behind him was Denver Jones with 16, a good night for Jones in a game that saw him get back to playing point guard for the first time since his first collegiate season at FIU, something that he mentioned after the game.
“I played point my first year in college, so it felt like I was just going back to my roots,” Jones said. “I just felt natural, being out there, being able to play point again, calling sets, and getting us into things”
Though the Tigers will have many tough tests in their non-conference schedule this season, a convincing win over a perennial tournament team like Vermont felt like a step in the right direction, something that Bruce Pearl mentioned when asked about his team’s performance.
“I think the outcome and the margin really have everything to do with the respect that we have for Vermont,” Pearl said. “We took them very seriously, and we prepared very seriously. I know John Becker, I know his staff. I know how good they are, and we were ready for them.”
Auburn will need to be ready again this Saturday, as the Tigers face a huge early test in the 4th-ranked Houston Cougars. Houston is consistently one of the best defensive teams in the country, so the Auburn shooters will need to bring their best once again on Saturday in the Toyota Center.
