While Johni Broome headlined Auburn’s 102-69 dismantling of North Alabama on Monday night with his 30-point performance, the Tigers are continuing to see Denver Jones adjust to his new role at point guard – and so far, it’s paying off.
Jones chipped in 13 points and three 3-pointers while adding a career-high nine assists in Auburn’s 33-point win.
“It’s been a little bit of an adjustment,” said Jones on adding minutes at point guard this year. “Just working all summer on playing point, just because last year I really didn't play it. Honestly, it was just being aggressive. IB (Ira Bowman) always stresses to me, ‘Just continue being aggressive’ like I'm playing off ball. ‘Continue to look for your shot. Everything else will take care of itself.’ And I was able to find guys, find shooters – Chad (Baker-Mazara), Johni (Broome). So, I feel like it just took care of itself.”
Jones has taken the initiative of not only leading the ball down the court, but continuing to play tenacious defense, which has led to the Tigers being No. 5 in defensive efficiency thus far, according to KenPom.
The Lions entered the game averaging 87.5 points. In their three wins, they won by a combined 70 points, led by preseason All-ASUN Team selection Jacari Lane who averaged 22.8 points before entering Neville Arena.
Lane made his presence known in the first half, helping the Lions take a one-point lead on two different occasions behind his 14-point performance before heading into the locker room. After watching the Lions highly touted guard score at will in the first half, the mission was clear for Jones: Stop him from scoring.
“They ended up taking the lead by one late in the first half. In the locker room during halftime, we just stressed that we have to be able to keep our man in front,” Jones said. “Then in the second half, you know, we all met, we all huddled up together and was like ‘For us, second half, we’ve got to lock in on defense.’ I really just wanted to stop him (Lane) from scoring.”
And that he did, as Lane went for just two second half points and the Lions chances at a win diminished before their eyes with the Tigers jumping out to a 17-6 run to start the half.
“The thing about our team is our guys are committed to defending and getting better at it every night,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “That’s going to give us a chance to win every time.”
Getting ready to play against a plethora of elite guards heading into a potential three-game skid in the Maui Invitational starting next Monday against No. 5 Iowa State, Jones said he is excited to test his ability against the best of the best.
“This will be my first time playing against Iowa State and teams like that,” Jones said. “So, I just really look forward to the competition. Look forward to the players they’re going to run. How good they are. Just look forward to, honestly, coming out with a dub when we get there.”
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Logan Fowler is a Senior from Sumiton, Alabama and is majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in Spring 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @loganffowler
