Auburn’s 2024-25 season is still more than a week away, but the Tigers wanted opportunities to get “exposed” in the preseason, as Bruce Pearl likes to say.
And Auburn will head back to practice this week with some early confidence after Sunday’s trip to Furman, after handling the Paladins 83-62 in a charity exhibition in Greenville, South Carolina.
Furman was picked No. 5 in the Southern Conference and is ranked No. 165 in the preseason KenPom ratings.
“You know, you’re on the road, so it’s a 20-point road win,” Pearl said postgame. “This is a team that would be like, say, App State. And we went to App State last year and got beat. So, you know, from that standpoint, I’m pleased with the outcome.”
Pearl had said all preseason that Auburn’s defense was ahead of its offense, and that was on display for much of the first half. Auburn missed its first 10 shots of the game and 23 of its first 30 from the floor, but the Tigers were able to offset those struggles with quality performance in most other areas on the floor.
A couple Tahaad Pettiford 3-pointers got Auburn out of its early funk, and the Tigers were able to speed up Furman with a feisty defense, getting out and running in transition with 10 turnovers by the Paladins in the first half alone — and 11 Auburn scoring points off of them.
Auburn’s 19-of-25 clip at the foul line ended up paying dividends in a whistle-heavy game, where the teams combined for a whopping 48 fouls.
Auburn found more consistency on the offensive end out of halftime, though, settling for less 3-pointers and taking more opportunities at the rim. Auburn shot 57 percent after halftime, including 19-of-27 on 2-point attempts.
After Furman had a 27-26 lead a couple minutes before the half, the Tigers took control down the stretch, turning defense into offense with several fastbreak scores. Auburn’s lead was at 10 points a few minutes into the second half, its largest of the game at that time, but things quickly snowballed in Auburn’s favor. A blocked 3-pointer by Johni Broome led to an open-floor layup by JP Pegues, and freshman wing Jahki Howard threw down a windmill dunk in transition a couple minutes later, as Auburn opened up a 23-point lead.
Furman was forced into 18 turnovers for the game and was held to 36 percent shooting. The Paladins made just nine made shots in the second half to eight turnovers. The Tigers totaled 11 steals and eight blocks.
Auburn’s size, length and depth began to wear down Furman on the glass and in the paint over the course of the game. The Tigers corralled 20 offensive rebounds and were plus-17 on the boards overall.
Broome secured a double-double just a few minutes into the second half and finished with 18 points and 14 boards. The freshman Pettiford led Auburn with 9 points in the first half and finished with 13, as part of a balanced lineup for the Tigers — even with Georgia Tech transfer Miles Kelly out with an illness. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 9 of his 13 points in the second half, while Howard and Chaney Johnson added 10 points apiece.
Auburn’s season opens Nov. 6 at home against Vermont. The Tigers have another exhibition Friday in Neville Arena against FAU.
AUBURN INDIVIDUAL STATS
J. Broome (28 min): 18 pts, 6-15 FG, 0-3 3FG, 6-6 FT, 14 reb, 6 ORB, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 TO, 1 foul
T. Pettiford (24 min): 13 pts, 5-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 1-2 FT, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 TO, 4 fouls
C. Baker-Mazara (24 min): 13 pts, 6-10 FG, 0-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, 7 reb, 4 ORB, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk, 2 TO, 2 fouls
C. Johnson (17 min): 10 pts, 3-4 FG, 1-1 3FG, 3-4 FT, 4 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 1 TO, 4 fouls
J. Howard (23 min): 10 pts, 4-9 FG, 0-2 FG, 2-5 FT, 2 ast, 2 stls, 1 blk, 1 TO, 4 fouls
D. Jones (21 min): 7 pts, 2-11 FG, 1-5 3FG, 2-3 FT, 3 ast, 1 TO, 4 fouls
D. Cardwell (19 min): 6 pts, 3-7 FG, 5 reb, 2 blk, 3 fouls
J. Hudson (15 min): 4 pts, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 4-4 FT, 7 reb, 3 ORB, 1 ast, 1 TO, 1 foul
J. Pegues (20 min): 2 pts, 1-4, 0-1 3FG, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 foul
C. Moore (7 min): 0 pts, 0-0 FG, 0 reb, 1 foul
AUBURN TEAM STATS
Field goals: 43% (30-70)
3-point shooting: 18% (4-22)
Assists: 13
Free throws: 76% (19-25)
Turnovers: 9
Pts off turnovers: 24
Rebounds: 48
Off rebounds: 20
2nd-chance points: 19
Bench points: 50
Pts in paint: 50
Fastbreak points: 22
Blocks: 8
Steals: 11
FURMAN TEAM STATS
Field goals: 36% (17-47)
3-point shooting: 24% (6-25)
Assists: 11
Free throws: 71% (22-31)
Turnovers: 18
Pts off turnovers: 7
Rebounds: 31
Off rebounds: 9
2nd-chance points: 19
Bench points: 21
Pts in paint: 22
Fastbreak points: 7
Blocks: 4
Steals: 3
BRUCE PEARL’S COMMENTS
Opening remarks …
“I thought we defended well. Again, we fouled too much. I thought we turned them over. They didn’t have their starting point guard. To turn them over 18 times, I thought, was good. We’re not gonna be able to turn everybody over like that. We missed a lot of shots. The frontline, in the first half, only made three baskets. We only had 10 field goals in the first half. I think we’ll go back and look at the tape. We’re gonna like where we got the ball, we just obviously didn’t finish and execute.
“I thought our energy was OK, but not great. Maybe that’s OK, too. Hopefully, we can build that up a little bit. You know, you’re on the road, so it’s a 20-point road win. This is a team that would be like, say, App State. And we went to App State last year and got beat. So, you know, from that standpoint, I’m pleased with the outcome.
“You could see the talent the freshmen have. You could see Jakhi and Tahaad have some real quickness and real athleticism. They’re both really good right now, and they’re both gonna be really good.
“I thought Chaney had a really good second half and picked his play up. Chad Baker was +29. When Chad’s on the floor, he just makes so much happen. He’s so solid, and he’s so good at both ends of the floor. That was really great to see, but, obviously, not surprising.
“Didn’t shoot it very well. And I think, if you look at the stat sheet, some of our better players and better shooters just didn’t make shots. Some of it is playing at the tempo we’re playing at and playing hard defensively. Sometimes, your offense is a little bit out of rhythm.
What’s your goal in a game like this? …
“Well, part of it is I’ve gotta look at personnel. I had to look at personnel, look at somebody else. You know, I thought that our athletes — the guys that are athletic and have the speed and quickness — played the best. Those guys that had speed and quickness. The guys that didn’t, you know, I thought were just OK. We’ve gotta do a better job of finishing around the basket. Our athletes have to use our athleticism.”
JP Pegues’ game …
“You know, JP has been super solid. He’s always in the right place at the right time. He has played better and practiced better than he played tonight. He obviously didn’t shoot it well. But he was solid.”
Lineup with Howard, Johnson and Baker-Mazara …
“Well, I think those are three really good athletes out there at the same time, and that caused them some problems. It did. What am I trying to get out of it? We’ve gotta learn. We overran the ball, creating 5-on-4 situations and giving them open shots. We fouled them too much, in the sense of you’ve gotta make decisions not to foul. Put yourself in a better position. Obviously, there were things that we didn’t execute offensively.
“Look, how many points did they score? (62.) And last year, they scored more than that. Furman is a much better defensive team than they were a year ago. They’re much bigger. I think they’re gonna have a good year in the SoCon. They’ll compete. Coach does an outstanding job, and the stuff they run is really hard to guard. Why Furman? Because you’ll play a great coach like Coach Richey, who runs great stuff and challenges your defense. I thought they did.”
Johni Broome’s performance …
“I thought there were times we forced it to him, and I thought there were times where we didn’t throw it in there to him when he was first open, leading him. We’ve got to do a better job of getting tighter catches in there. We do. Johni did a really good job of attacking off the bounce and getting downhill, driving the ball to the basket.”
