AUBURN | The improvement in Chaney Johnson showed up immediately.

In Auburn’s first game of the season, Johnson had 13 points nine rebounds and one blocked shot in just 16 minutes off the bench.

It’s a big step forward from the 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds he averaged as a junior after transferring from UAH.

“Chaney was a monster inside. Just a beast,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl. “And he played with great physicality, great confidence.

“He’s our hardest worker. Chaney Johnson is our hardest worker. I just love seeing one of your hardest workers get rewarded like that.”

The 6-foot-7 Johnson put in a lot of work with strength and conditioning coach Damon Davis in the offseason including adding close to 20 pounds.

“Going into this summer, we had three goals -- he told me to make three goals. He told me to weigh 225-230, be a lot faster, and no more knee pains or nagging injuries. I feel like I accomplished all three goals,” said Johnson.

Johnson has also received a lot of encouragement from his teammates to take a step forward this season.

“We all been telling him we want him to be aggressive,” said Denver Jones. “I been telling him myself and I feel like it’s different coming from your teammates rather than it be your coaches. We been telling him and he’s starting to lock in so I feel like we are going to see this season.”

The senior will need that extra bulk and aggressiveness going up against a physical Houston team Saturday night.

“It's going to be a good game,” said Johnson. “They're an amazing team, well coached. I've seen a couple things on Twitter where the coach has them diving on balls and stuff like that. It's definitely going to be a dog fight, but I feel like we're prepared.”

Tip-off against the 4th-ranked Cougars at the Toyota Center is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.