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