Kelly's sharpshooting leads No. 11 Auburn past Vermont in Tipoff on The Plains

AUBURN, Ala. – In his Auburn debut, Miles Kelly made seven 3-pointers, including five in fewer than four minutes, and the No. 11 Tigers overpowered Vermont 94-43 in Tipoff on The Plains Wednesday at sold-out Neville Arena.

“Played really well,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “The outcome and the margin have everything to do with the respect we have for Vermont. We shot it so well, we overwhelmed them with some of our athleticism, depth, defense and rim protection.”

Kelly made 7 of 9 3-pointers and scored 21 points to lead five Tigers in double figures. Denver Jones, who scored 16 points, was not surprised by his new teammates’ range.

“When I was at SEC Media Day and everybody asked me, ‘Who’s the best shooter on the team?’ I told them it was Miles,” Jones said. “’Y’all are going to see when the season starts.’ He showed tonight what he’s capable of.”  

“He is an NBA-caliber 3-point shooter,” Pearl said. “If he can see it, he can make it. I thought he had one from Opelika one time, but he was open so he shot it.”

Auburn was already leading by 40 when Kelly’s barrage began with 14:18 to play. When it ended at the 10:23 mark, the Tigers led 81-25.  

“After the fourth one, I blacked out,” Kelly said. “Everything I threw up was going in. My teammates did a good job of finding me, and I just knocked the shots down.”

In between Kelly’s marksmanship display, Jahki Howard brought the crowd to its feet with a windmill dunk after Dylan Cardwell’s defensive rebound and half-court outlet pass.

Chaney Johnson added 13 points and nine rebounds, Johni Broome scored 12 and Chad Baker-Mazara added 11.

“Chaney was a monster inside,” Pearl said. “He’s our hardest worker. I love seeing when our hardest workers get rewarded like that.”

Auburn made 16 3-pointers on 35 attempts (45.7 percent), including eight in the first half to take a 46-21 halftime lead.

Baker-Mazara started the long-distance party, which Broome quickly joined with a step-back 3-pointer. Kelly and JP Pegues each added consecutive 3s in quick succession before Baker-Mazara made two 3-pointers in 40 seconds.

Auburn committed only two turnovers in the first half while forcing 12, holding the Catamounts to one first-half assist.

The Tigers held Vermont to 25.9-percent shooting (15-58), including 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) on 3-point attempts. 

“They’re massive and athletic and they run you off the line,” Vermont coach John Becker said. “You can’t take advantage of it at the rim because they have two of the best shot blockers in the country.”

Auburn shot 56.3 percent, with Jones going 5-for-6 and Johnson making 6 of 8 attempts. 

Broome quickly dispelled any concerns about a post-intermission letdown, stealing Vermont’s inbounds pass and driving for a dunk.

Broome followed with a 3-pointer, then Jones scored nine consecutive points on an and-one and back-to-back 3s in a 16-0 run that gave Auburn a 62-21 lead.

Auburn (1-0) plays No. 4 Houston Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

“We’re not celebrating this,” Pearl said. “Don’t read too much into this, other than we shot it really well and played pretty hard. We’ll put this one behind us really quickly.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn went with the starting lineup of JP Pegues, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell.
• Pegues started in his Auburn debut after starting 66 games in three seasons for Furman. Jones recorded his 69th career start including 34 in his two seasons at Auburn. Chad Baker-Mazara started his 23rd game of his career against Vermont including his 10th in two seasons with Auburn. Broome picked up the 129th start of his career in the season opener including his 68th in three seasons at Auburn. Cardwell started for the third time of his career.
• Wednesday night’s matchup was the first-ever meeting between Auburn and Vermont. It was also the Tigers’ first game against a 2024-25 member of the America East Conference.
• Auburn is 10-1 in season openers under head coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl is 28-2 overall in his head coaching career including a 9-0 mark at Southern Indiana, 3-1 record at Milwaukee and 6-0 at Tennessee.
• Tonight’s win marks Auburn’s 55th-consecutive non-conference home win.
• The Tigers saw its 56th-consecutive sellout crowd at Neville Arena (9,121).
• The 51-point win was Auburn’s largest season-opening win since the Tigers defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 114-60, to open its SEC Championship 1998-99 season.
• Vermont’s 43 points are the fewest by an Auburn opponent since the Tigers held Northwestern to 42 points on Nov. 23, 2022, and the fourth-fewest by an Auburn opponent in the Bruce Pearl Era.
• Auburn placed five players in double figures led by Miles Kelly, who recorded his 14th career 20-point game, with 21 points, Jones added 16 points, Chaney Johnson scored 13 points, Johni Broome chipped in with 12 points and Chad Baker-Mazara finished with 11 points.
• AU shot 56.3 percent (36-of-64) on the night including 65.5 percent (19-of-29) in the second half. The Tigers were 16-of-35 from long range as five players made multiple 3-pointers for Auburn, led by Miles, who went 7-of-9 from distance including 5-of-5 in the second half. Kelly added three rebounds, one block and one steal in 18 minutes in his Auburn debut. 
• The Tigers held Vermont to 25.9 percent (15-of-58) shooting including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from long range.
• Jones was 5-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also finished with two assists, two rebounds and one steal in 16 minutes of play.
• Johnson pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, blocked one shot and finished 6-of-8 from the floor against the Catamounts.
• Broome made 5-of-11 field goals including 2-of-5 from long range and finished with seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
• Baker-Mazara went 4-of-8, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range, to go with three rebounds, two assists and one block in the win.
• Auburn opened the second half on a 16-0 run to extend its 46-21 halftime lead to 62-21.
• Half of Auburn’s 94 points came from the bench (47 points).
• The Tigers scored 25 points off 16 Vermont turnovers, which is one more turnover than the Catamounts had in any game last season.
• Auburn outrebounded Vermont, 43-31, as 11 different Tigers recorded a board in the game.
• AU was +7 in turnovers (16-9) and committed only two turnovers in the first half.