AUBURN, Ala. – With a trio of first-year Tigers combining for 47 points, Auburn tuned up for its season opener by defeating Auburn-Montgomery 102-66 Wednesday in an exhibition at Neville Arena.
Denver Jones made four 3-pointers and led Auburn with 18 points, Chad Baker-Mazara went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and scored 15 points, and Chaney Johnson added 14 points.
“Those guys are good,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said of the newcomers. “They have a chance to make us a better team. They all have great ability. Really efficient players, pretty high basketball IQ.”
“It felt good being out there in front of the Auburn family tonight,” Jones said. “It was really exciting for me.”
Jaylin Williams also reached double figures with 11 points. Dylan Cardwell came within one point of a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Chaney Johnson scored Auburn’s first points and Jones followed with a 3-pointer, serving notice that the new Tigers will be making an instant impact this season.
Baker-Mazera went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line scored 13 points in the first half to lead the Tigers to a 49-29 halftime lead.
“I was really excited the whole day and last night,” Baker-Mazara said. “It was great to be out there representing Auburn.”
Cardwell grabbed seven rebounds and Tre Donaldson had five assists in the half and finished with an 8-to-1 assist-turnover ratio.
“We got great point guard play from Denver and Tre in the last game,” Pearl said, referencing Auburn’s closed scrimmage Saturday vs. Furman. “For the second game in a row, Denver didn’t turn it over. Playing a new position, that’s really good.”
Auburn used a 19-0 run to take control in the middle of the first half, holding the visitors scoreless for more than six minutes.
“We turned up some press,” said Pearl. “It bothered them. It got us flying around more.”
Walk-ons played the final four minutes with Carter Sobera helping Auburn reach the century mark after Jalen Harper’s offensive rebound and assist.
“Sunday was really valuable. We played a really good team,” Pearl said. “Auburn-Montgomery played hard. Excited for our sister school to come and play in the big arena.”
Auburn tips off Pearl’s 10th season Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT vs. Baylor at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.
“We could have 10 guys playing 20 minutes,” Pearl said. “That’s a possibility. We’ve got to continue to work on some things because otherwise we’re not going to get stops.”
POSTGAME NOTES
>> Auburn improves to 9-1 in exhibition games under head coach Bruce Pearl with its 102-66 victory over AUM in Neville Arena Wednesday night.
>> The game marks the second time Auburn has reached the 100-point mark in an exhibition game under Pearl. The Tigers defeated Indianapolis 114-109 in overtime in 2015. The 36-point win matches Auburn’s 94-58 victory over West Alabama in 2014 for the third-largest margin of victory in an exhibition under Pearl. The Tigers beat Eckerd College 97-53 in 2019 and Brevard College 99-59 in 2015.
>> After AUM went ahead 16-15 at the 12:08 mark in the first half, Auburn used a 19-0 run to go up 34-16 with 5:44 remaining before halftime. The Tigers led by at least 15 points the rest of the game.
>> Auburn was led by three newcomers as Denver Jones led the way with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-8 from long range, and he was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Chad Baker-Mazara added 19 points on a perfect night from the free-throw line going 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Chaney Johnson chipped in with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting on the night. Jaylin Williams rounded out the Tigers’ double-figure scorers with 11 points to go with six rebounds, four blocks and two steals in the victory.
>> Auburn scored 29 points off 23 AUM turnovers. On the night, the Tigers recorded 17 steals led by K.D. Johnson and Dylan Cardwell with four apiece and Tre Donaldson with three.
>> Auburn played 15 players in the win with 13 Tigers cracking the scoring column.
