AUBURN, Ala. – Defense carried No. 15 Auburn to a 70-52 season-opening win over George Mason Monday at Neville Arena.
"A good win tonight," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "To hold them to 52 points and to turn them over 19 times with a veteran team, our defense was really good. It's a good start."
Dylan Cardwell set career highs with nine rebounds and five blocked shots as the Tigers rejected 10 shots, made 14 steals and outrebounded the visitors 48-37.
"This is the best Dylan has played," Pearl said. "Dylan had pop, he was powerful, he was a factor at the rim, he got a lot of traffic rebounds. He moves about as well as anybody his size in college basketball. That's the key to his effectiveness."
"He's a monster," said fellow center Johni Broome of Caldwell. "He's physical, he's strong, his defense is amazing. We're a very good duo together."
Wendell Green Jr. led Auburn with 16 points and four assists, adding four rebounds. Broome and K.D. Johnson each scored 12 points, with Broome adding six rebounds and four blocks, and Johnson pacing the Tigers with four steals.
While the Tigers struggled to make shots, sinking only 4 of 25 3-pointers, Auburn's defense started the season in midseason form, holding George Mason to 37.5 percent shooting.
"When we start making those shots, we've got a chance to be pretty good," Pearl said. "We haven't yet."
The Tigers built an 18-point lead on Johnson's second-chance 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the half before Auburn went cold down the stretch, missing eight of its last nine shots while the Patriots made their last five shots, ending the half on a 13-2 run to cut Auburn's lead to 31-24.
The Tigers started strong, taking a 13-2 lead on Johnson's steal and assist to Green for a transition layup.
"He's such a factor," Pearl said of Johnson. "He's different than anybody else out there. Nobody's as fast, quick and powerful and explosive. He's a problem out there. He did a nice job at both ends. I want him to build on it."
Auburn made seven steals and forced 12 turnovers in the first half leading to an 18-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Chris Moore's corner 3-pointer restored Auburn's double-digit lead early in the second half and the Tigers extended their advantage down the stretch.
A testament to Auburn's depth, 10 Tigers played at least 10 minutes with all 10 scoring.
"We've got that spark of the bench with me, Al [Allen Flanigan] and J-Will [Jaylin Williams]," Johnson said. "We've got 12 guys and most teams don't have that. They get tired early, and we started a new fresh five and got on them early and pushed the pace."
"We wore them down," Pearl said. "I think that's the only way we're going to be successful. We are the sum of our parts."
Auburn hosts South Florida Friday at 7 p.m. CT in the second contest of Auburn's four-game season-opening homestand.
"If we continue to shoot the ball poorly then we'll have concerns," Pearl said. "I'm not concerned now but we've got to shoot it better. South Florida is going to pack it in. We're going to have all kinds of open shots. We've just got to do a better job of making open shots."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
GEORGE MASON POSTGAME NOTES
>> Auburn went with the starting five of Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Chris Moore, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome. It was the first career start for Moore and first Auburn start for Morehead State transfer Broome.
>> The Tigers' starters contributed to 45 of the team's 70 points against the Patriots including a game-high 16 points from Green Jr., 12 points each from Broome and Johnson, 7 from Williams and 2 from Jasper.
>> Auburn improves to 2-0 versus George Mason in the all-time series. Both games in 2017 and 2022 played on the Tigers' home court.
>> Auburn is now 86-31 all-time in season openers including 42-7 in its last 49 opening-night games. The Tigers also are 9-0 in season openers in the Bruce Pearl Era.
>> The Tigers have now won 39 consecutive non-conference games at Neville Arena. Head Coach Bruce Pearl is 49-3 at Auburn in non-conference home games.
>> Dylan Cardwell came off the bench and brought down a game-and career-high nine rebounds against George Mason. Auburn outrebounded Mason, 48-37 (+11).
>> Auburn had a capacity crowd of 9,121 in tonight's opener at Neville Arena to mark its 24th-consecutive regular-season capacity crowd (minus the COVID season in 2020-21).
>> The Auburn defense forced George Mason to turn over the ball 19 times in the game. The Tigers scored 21 points off of those miscues.
>> AU made 14 steals including four from Johnson. It tied as the fifth-most in a single game under Coach Pearl.