Auburn men’s basketball opened its season decisively on Wednesday night, securing a 94-43 victory over the Vermont Catamounts.
The Tigers looked in midseason form in their first game of the 2024-25 season, shooting 56.3% from the field and 45.7% from three while holding Vermont to 25.9% from the field and 21.7% from three.
In its season opener against UAB, Vermont held the Blazers scoreless from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Auburn sank 16 three-pointers on Wednesday night.
Auburn controlled the tip to start the contest but missed a 3-pointer on its first possession. A made jumper from Chad Baker-Mazara put the Tigers on the board first, but Vermont followed with a 3-pointer from Ileri Ayo-Faleye to go up 3-2, marking the only lead the Catamounts would hold all night.
Baker-Mazara followed with a 3-pointer of his own, and the Tigers made four of their next five shots from the field to take a 10-5 lead over the Catamounts. Both teams did not find the basket for the next three minutes, and Ayo-Faleye made a fadeaway jumper to end the early scoring drought.
Chaney Johnson followed with a made jumper for Auburn, and the Tigers did not look back from there, ending the first half with a 46-21 lead. The Auburn defense held Vermont to 7-for-25 shooting the field in the first half while the Catamounts turned the ball over 12 times.
Auburn secured 18 points off of turnovers in the first half and shot 17-for-35 from the field. The Tigers made eight 3-pointers, shooting 44.4% from behind-the-arc. Baker-Mazara made three shots from beyond in the first half, followed by JP Pegues and Miles Kelly with two a piece. Johni Broome also finished the first half with a 3-pointer.
The Tigers continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring the Catamounts 48-22. Auburn started the second half with a 16-0 run, and Vermont did not find the bucket until just under the fourteen-minute mark of the half.
The three-pointer that ended Vermont's second-half scoring drought sparked an Auburn offensive surge. Kelly responded with a three of his own, then sank his next four attempts from beyond the arc — all within a four-minute span.
Kelly led the Tigers in scoring with 21 points and seven made 3-point attempts, going 7-for-9 from beyond.
“After like the fourth one, I just like blacked out,” Kelly said of his performance from deep. “Everything I threw up was going in, and my teammates did a good job of finding me, and I just knocked the shots down.”
Vermont ended the night with more turnovers (16) than made shots (15), and the Auburn bench outscored the entire Catamount team 47-43. Five Tigers made at least two shots from behind the 3-point line, and five Tigers finished with double digit points.
Denver Jones was right behind Kelly with 16 points, followed by Johnson with 13 and Broome with 12. Defensively, Auburn out rebounded Vermont 35-21 and claimed 25 points off turnovers compared to 10 from the Catamounts. Johnson led the team in rebounds with nine, followed by Broome with seven.
“We overwhelmed them with some of our athleticism and our depth and defensively and our rim protection,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “I'm pleased, and that's a win for Auburn against the field.”
Up next, Auburn heads to Houston to face the No. 4 Houston Cougars on Saturday, Nov. 9. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. CST and can be televised on ESPNU.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January of 2023.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @graceeheim
