AUBURN — The No. 11 Auburn Tigers started their season off with a dominating 94-43 win over the Vermont Catamounts on Wednesday night in Neville Arena.
The Tigers are 10-1 in season openers with Bruce Pearl at the helm, the only loss coming from a top-ranked Baylor team a season ago.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Smothering Defense
Auburn had the Catamounts in a chokehold from start to finish on the defensive side of the floor, a continuing trend from its two preseason exhibition games.
The Tigers held Vermont to just 26% from the field on the night — just 15-of-58 shooting — and forced 16 turnovers, which resulted in 25 points for Auburn on the other end. Vermont committed just five turnovers in its win against UAB on Monday, and the Tigers forced them into that many turnovers in under 10 minutes of play.
It was the lowest shooting percentage Vermont head coach John Becker has been held to in his 13 seasons leading the Catamounts.
Nothing going for Vermont's Big Three
Bruce Pearl raved about the likes of Vermont's dynamic guards in TJ Long and Shamir Bogues — who were both voted to the Preseason All-Conference Team in the AEC — leading up to the game, but also mentioned TJ Hurley, who scored 20 points in the Catamounts win over UAB.
The trio combined for 43 points against UAB, but only two of them scored against the Tigers, with Long and Hurley combing for just eight points and Bogues going scoreless.
Fast start to the second half
As if a 46-21 lead coming out of halftime wasn't enough, the Tigers started the second half with a 14-0 run, led by Denver Jones and Johni Broome, who scored 9 and 5, respectively, during the stretch.
Meanwhile, the Tigers continued their defensive efforts, allowing just eight field goals in the half, and jumped out to a sounding 57-point lead.
Miles Kelly leads Auburn's prolific shooting efforts
There was almost no-doubt of what was about to come when Miles Kelly got the ball from three-point land, as the Georgia Tech transfer set Neville Arena ablaze with his 21-point performance. Kelly led the charge in the Tigers' prolific effort from the field, going 7-9 from deep.
Auburn shot a whopping 56% from the field and went 16-35 from deep (46%.) Four other Tigers finished the night in double digits, with only four out of 14 who saw action going scoreless — only two scholarship players.
On Saturday, the Tigers will travel to Houston to take on the No. 4 Cougars at the Toyota Center in an early-season showdown. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPNU.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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