Walker Kessler has quickly shown off his height and shot-blocking ability for Auburn.

In the exhibition against Southern Indiana, he blocked six shots. Kessler tallied five in the regular season opener, to go along with six points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Kessler set the tone early and Morehead State reached a point where they no longer wanted to drive into the post and challenge the big man.

"We were feeding off of it," Bruce Pearl said. "The key was, when Walker was blocking them, we were chasing down those 50-50 balls — and that's the key. A blocked shot's just a loose ball — it's anybody's ball, just 50-50. We got most of them in the first half.

"I think it just shows you the confidence I have in Walker and the confidence he has -- his teammates have in him to play the post one-on-one. It allowed us to take their 3-ball away. It allowed us to take their inside-out game away."

It's a pretty simple combination that makes Kessler an effective shot blocker.

"Well, you know, my height helps," Kessler said with a laugh when asked after the game what makes him a good shot blocker. "But you know I’ve always had a kind of knack about it and timing. My length allows me not to really like, commit so much to a shot where I can’t recover so that definitely helps. So yeah, that’s basically it. I’d say my height and my length are the biggest things."

It's made life easier for the players around Kessler, too.

Auburn has strong on-ball defenders at the guard spots. But if they get beat, they've got a 7'1" center holding down the paint.

"It gives us all the confidence in the world, you know? We can press up, we can be aggressive without trying to foul," Wendell Green said about Kessler's defense. "We're pretty good defenders, you know? Dev, K.D., Zep, me, we know what we can do on the ball, and once they get past that free-throw line, they better be good finishers 'cause they got to deal with Jabari and Walker and Dylan."

Playing alongside him in the frontcourt, after Jabari Smith watches Kessler get some blocks he wants to add some of his own.

"I just feel like him blocking shots just makes kinda me want to get in there a little bit and block me a few," Smith said. "Just all of us being able to know that we’ve got that protection at the rim, helps us feel more comfortable pressing up into the ball. It just helps us feel like we’ve got that protection, which we know is back there with Walker. Just him blocking shots, him playing hard, I just feel like it motivates all of us."

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