11/8/22 Auburn Basketball Articles

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Instant analysis: Auburn opens season with wire-to-wire win vs. George Mason

Updated: Nov. 07, 2022, 10:33 p.m.|Published: Nov. 07, 2022, 9:08 p.m.

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The tongue was out early for K.D. Johnson. His eyes widened as he bounced up and down the court. His yells were full-throated, even as he chest-bumped Wendell Green Jr. after helping him off the floor following a fastbreak.

It was Auburn’s season opener, but Johnson’s maniacal mannerisms were in midseason form.

The Tigers’ beloved madman set the tone early in Neville Arena, as No. 15 Auburn opened its season with a wire-to-wire win against George Mason, 70-52, on Monday night. Johnson had 12 points as part of a balanced — though far from efficient — effort from Bruce Pearl’s deep roster, which went 10-deep in the rotation within the game’s first five minutes.

Johnson, who added three rebounds, three assists and four steals, was one of three Auburn players to finish in double figures.

“He’s just such a factor,” Pearl said. “He’s just different than anybody else out there. There’s a lot of really good athletes out there, but no one is as fast and quick and powerful, explosive. He’s a problem out there, and I thought he did a nice job at both ends. Want to build on it, I want him to build on it.”

Wendell Green Jr. scored a game-high 16 to go along with four assists and four rebounds, while Johni Broome had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks in his Auburn debut. The Tigers also got eight points from Chris Moore in his first career start, seven points (along with six rebounds and three steals) from Jaylin Williams, and six points from five-star freshman Yohan Traore.

“As you can see, we had a couple of players in double figures,” Johnson said. “We got that spark off the bench with me, Al (Flanigan) and J-Will. I don’t think we could be stopped.... We’ve got 11 guys and 12 guys, and most guys don’t have that. So, you know, they get tired early — and that’s what George Mason kind of did. We started a new, fresh five and got on them early and pushed the pace.”

Here are AL.com’s key takeaways from Auburn’s season-opening win:

Johni Broome’s strong debut

Johni Broome made his presence felt in his official Auburn debut, and he wasted little time introducing himself.

Broome scored the first two baskets of the season for the Tigers — the first a tip-in off a miss on the opening possession, then a short hook after a smooth baseline spin move. The latter prompted a flex toward the stands from Auburn’s new big man, who joined the program in the offseason after earning OVC Defensive Player of the Year last season at Morehead State.

Broome showed that defensive prowess Monday, finishing with four blocks in the season opener. He added 12 points (on 5-of-11 shooting) along with six rebounds and a pair of steals.

“Offense wasn’t really clicking as well,” Broome said. “I had to find another way to help my team win, and that was on the defensive end, by blocking shots, alternate shots and rebounding the basketball.”

Broome also won his matchup against George Mason’s Josh Oduro, who was limited to eight points, four rebounds and three turnovers. Broome did that all despite dealing with an ankle injury that hindered him over the last week or so leading into the season. The ankle seemed fine Monday, though Pearl said Broome is “still banged up.”

All in all, though, it was a strong showing for the 6-foot-10, 235-pounder in his first game for the Tigers. Pearl still wants to see more as he gets back to full speed and the season progresses.

“He’s got to play faster, quicker,” Pearl said.

Auburn put George Mason in a sleeper hold early

With just under 5 minutes to play in the first half, George Mason had more turnovers (10) than it did points (nine). Auburn’s defense had GMU in shackles, and Neville Arena was the prison cell.

The Tigers’ defense caused fits for the Patriots for large swaths of Monday’s season opener, particularly in the first half as Auburn built a sizeable lead—as large as 18 points late in the first half—and flustered George Mason’s deliberate style of offense. Until the Patriots closed the half on a 13-2 run, making each of their final five shots, the Tigers held them to 5-of-22 shooting (22.7 percent), including 0-for-17 from 3-point range, with 10 turnovers.

“We jumped out on them early in the game, had a couple of blocked shots,” Broome said. “KD came in, had a couple steals. The Jungle was rocking. We had got up to a, like a 15-, 16-point lead or whatever it was, but just to set the tone early and stay on them the whole game.”

Auburn turned those turnovers into 18 points in the first half, as Pearl’s team led by double-digits for much of the opening stanza — and most of the game. George Mason finished with 19 turnovers, leading to 21 points for Auburn. The Tigers had 14 steals (led by four from Johnson) to go along with 10 blocks, nine of which came from Broome (four) and Dylan Cardwell (five).

Auburn also closed out the game strong on the defensive end, as George Mason missed nine of its final 12 shots over the game’s final nine-plus minutes.

“To hold them to 52 points, 37 or 38 percent from the field, to turn them over 19 times, nine assists, 19 turnovers, with a veteran team — it’s good,” Pearl said. “Our defense was really good. The rim protection was really good. Our centers blocked nine shots. I think we wore them down.”

Auburn overcame a poor shooting night and still controlled the game

Just as it did in last week’s exhibition against UAH, Auburn struggled to find its shooting touch in its season opener against George Mason.

The Tigers shot just 33.8 percent on the night, including 16 percent (4-of-25) from 3-point range. Despite those shooting woes, Auburn was in control from the opening tip. The Tigers were aggressive getting to the basket, with 24 of their 70 points coming on layups and dunks, as they shot 50 percent (12-of-24) on those attempts.

“We very confident, because we gonna rely on our defense, and defense wins championships,” Johnson said. “Us not making shots right now, you know, it’s early on in season. We got a whole season to go, so it’s not a rush or a panic for us. We just gonna keep staying in the gym and they gonna fall.”

The poor-shooting performance isn’t a concern for Pearl -- at least not yet. If it becomes a recurring themse as the schedule continues, then it will be an issue to address. Until then, Auburn will keep firing away, confident the shots will start to fall.

“When we start making those shots, we’ve got a chance to be pretty good,” Pearl said. “But we haven’t yet.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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