The Tigers open against Yale-like Vermont

AUBURN | No. 11 Auburn won't play many teams like Vermont this season, but at the end of last season they played a team that was very similar and it didn't end well.

The Tigers open the season Wednesday night against a Catamount team that reminds Bruce Pearl of the Yale team that knocked AU out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March.

“Vermont is very Yale-like, and that should concern all of us,” said Pearl, who is entering his 11th season as Auburn’s head coach. “Vermont was ninth in scoring defense last year. The teams scored 62 points against them. Last year they were ninth in failing to turn the ball over.

“We overwhelmed our first two tournament opponents to the point where we scored 25 points per game in those games. So those points from turnovers are going to be pretty much non-existent because they’re going to do a great job getting the ball.”

Pearl's scouting report proved accurate after Vermont opened the season Monday night, turning the ball over just five times in a 67-62 win over UAB. Junior guard TJ Hurley led the way with 20 points, including 4 of 8 3-pointers.

Senior Shamir Bogues added 13 points and senior TJ Long had 10.

“They’re going to do really well on offense; hard to protect stuff,” Pearl said. “I have a dominant point guard in Bogues. Their adults are undersized but physical. They are almost physically flawed. And they have some dead-eye shooters again, similar to Yale. So it will be a really fighting team.”

It's the start of a very challenging non-conference slate that includes a trip to No. 4 Houston on Saturday night, a matchup against No. 5 Iowa State to open a high-profile Maui Invitational, at Duke, No. 7 Ohio State in Atlanta and No . 14 Purdue at Birmingham.

“One good thing is that this early schedule – including these first three games – will teach us a lot about where we are. Obviously I’m excited about it,” Pearl said.

Kickoff at Neville Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.