Fly War Eagle
Fansided

Auburn basketball dominates Vermont in season opener

The Auburn basketball team put on a dominant performance against the Vermont Catamounts on Wednesday night in Neville Arena.

By Mary Kate Hughes

Auburn Tigers forward Chad Baker-Mazara (10) takes a jump shot as Auburn Tigers take on Vermont Catamounts at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Auburn Tigers leads Vermont Catamounts 46-21 at halftime.
Auburn Tigers forward Chad Baker-Mazara (10) takes a jump shot as Auburn Tigers take on Vermont Catamounts at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. Auburn Tigers leads Vermont Catamounts 46-21 at halftime. / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit

The Auburn basketball team put on a dominant performance against the Vermont Catamounts on Wednesday night in Neville Arena

The Auburn basketball team provided a sneak peek of their game last Friday in an exhibition matchup against Florida Atlantic. The team played outstandingly, but of course, it's only an exhibition game.

Wednesday, the Tigers welcomed the Vermont Catamounts to Neville Arena, and it quickly became clear that the level of play against FAU was not a fluke or simply an exhibition thing. Auburn basketball dominated for the full 40 minutes of play, taking a 46-21 lead at halftime and extending it throughout the second half for a 94-43 victory to kick off the 2024-25 season.

"Played really well," said Bruce Pearl, per Auburn Rivals. "I think the outcome and the margin really have everything to do with the respect that we have for Vermont. We took them very seriously. We prepared very seriously. And I promise you that Vermont came in here with a game plan to win this game. I've been at that level, I've been there before, I know what it takes to have upsets like this. We shot it so well.

Pearl was impressed with his team's defensive performance and the lack of fouls. The Tigers forced 16 turnovers against a Vermont team that averaged only 9.1 turnovers last season. Still, Auburn basketball will face a major challenge this weekend against Houston, and Pearl says it is too early for the Tigers to celebrate.

"Well, I thought the best thing about it was we guarded without fouling," said Pearl, per Auburn Undercover. "I thought that was so important. Now, we had a Final Four officiating crew. Two of the guys out there, you know, Terry Oglesby and Pat Adams were both in the Final Four last year. Great, great crew. I do think we defended pretty well without fouling. Obviously Saturday at Houston is going to be a completely different matchup and different team, different size, athleticism and physicality. We're not celebrating this. Don't read into it too much other than we shot it really well and played pretty hard."

Auburn will take on Houston at the Toyota Center in Houston this Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

Home/Auburn Basketball