Ahead of Auburn's season opener against Vermont, head coach Bruce Pearl expressed his concerns about the game. He described the team as “Yale-like,” hoping to avoid the fate that Auburn suffered in its only NCAA Tournament game last season.

Wednesday night was nothing but heartbreak against Yale. Auburn dominated Vermont from the start, winning 94-43 and starting the season 1-0.

The game was never close and Auburn never took its foot off the gas. Vermont is far from the best team Auburn will play this season, but as a team that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, it's certainly no walk in the park either.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's game:

Auburn dictated the tempo

In the week leading up to Wednesday's game, Pearl talked about how little Vermont turns the ball over and how there would be fewer possessions than in Auburn's win over Florida Atlantic.

It turned the ball over five times in its season opener at Vermont, but the number was more than double that in the first half against Auburn. Vermont had 12 turnovers in the first half, which led to 18 Auburn points and helped the Tigers to a 46-21 lead.

Auburn's athletic advantage was clear early in the game, but he took full advantage of it and didn't allow Vermont to turn it into a half-court game. Auburn defended the ball well and didn't allow Vermont to get open looks off the dribble, which it did against UAB.

3-point shooting is here

It's only one game, but acquiring 3-point shooters like JP Pegues and Miles Kelly is already paying dividends for Auburn.

The duo made my 3-pointers against Vermont, along with contributions from Johni Broome, Chad Baker Mazara, Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson, and Auburn made 16 3-pointers as a team.

Kelly was particularly impressive, scoring 21 points on nine attempts and making seven 3-pointers. At this point, he has scored five straight goals and is living up to his expectations as potentially Auburn's best shooter.

As a team, Auburn shot 46% from 3-point range. That won't be the case every game, but it's a promising indication of what this team can do when they play at their best. It wasn't necessarily all open shots either.

Vermont's 3-point defense is good, as evidenced by UAB shooting 0-for-10 from distance. The ability to have talented shooters opens up new possibilities for the offense in many ways, and even against better teams, Auburn will be difficult to defend.

The defense is active

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the game was how many turnovers Auburn forced. Vermont ranked ninth nationally in fewest turnovers per game last year (9.1), but finished with 16 against Auburn, matching its single-season high from the 2023-2024 season.

In the first half alone, Auburn scored 18 points with 12 turnovers. Heavy ball pressure, some full-court pressure and active hands in the passing lanes caused Vermont problems throughout the game.

Auburn's clear athletic advantage helped force a flurry of turnovers, and that can't be relied upon in every game. However, consistently passing a team as disciplined as Vermont is a promising sign.

For simplicity's sake, getting a team to 43 points to start the season is never a bad thing.

Peter Rauterkus reports on Auburn Sports AL.com. You can follow him on X below @peter_rauterkus or send him an email at [email protected]M