Auburn basketball reporter sends strong message on Tigers' play in 51-point win over Vermont

247 Sports' Nathan King added an opening night caveat, but the Auburn basketball beat reporter couldn't help but proclaim the Tigers' performance during a 94-43 win over Vermont the best hoops he's seen in six seasons covering the team.

"I am saying this completely aware of how it sounds in the season opener, but this is some of the best basketball I have ever seen Auburn play in my six seasons covering the team," King tweeted during the 51-point beatdown.

And to think, Bruce Pearl thought his team would get a Yale-esque fight from the America East squad leading up to the blowout.

“So Vermont is very Yale-like, which should concern us all,” Pearl said (h/t On SI). “John Becker, (head) coach of Vermont, he’s got a great reputation back East. One of the best mid-major coaches in the country, been doing it a long time. We knew that this was going to be a game against the field right from the very beginning. They’ll (Vermont) run really good offensive stuff, hard to guard stuff. Their bigs are undersized but physical. They’re almost physical to a fault. They’ve got a couple dead-eye shooters, again kind of like Yale. It’ll be a really scrappy team I expect.

"This group of guys at Vermont have been together for a long time, they work well together. If you overplay things too much, they’ll beat your back door in.”

Miles Kelly becomes second-unit star in Auburn basketball's rout of Vermont

Miles Kelly's seven three-pointers in nine attempts immediately ingratiated the Georgia Tech transfer to The Jungle in an unfathomable way. Kelly was far from the only hot hand on the floor -- nine players shot 50% or better from the field -- but his debut couldn't have inspired more hope.

Pearl's system is predicated on strong guard play. Kelly, JP Pegues, and Denver Jones shot a combined 11/14 from the field. That should make the Tigers as formidable as any team Pearl has ever had at AU.

Hugh Freeze's football team had high hopes but fell flat. Pearl didn't even get fans' hopes up in the preseason with a difficult non-conference slate ahead of them, but their expectations are sky-high now too.

Pearl's program looks poised to make it sustainable, though.