AUBURN | After missing practice time and Auburn’s first exhibition game due to an illness, Miles Kelly looked to be in midseason form in a 102-70 win over Florida Atlantic Friday night.
Kelly tied for the team lead with 15 points and added five rebounds and one assist in 20 minutes. He shot 50 percent from the floor including 3 of 7 3-pointers and made all four of his free throw attempts.
“Miles probably exceeded my expectations a little bit just because he’d only been to one contact practice and then he played,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl. “He obviously had a little bit of rust. Shot it really well and rebounded it really well.
“He’s got that length that we now have at that position. Our guards all play big. And I think that can really help us defensively and rebounding-wise.”
Kelly, 6-foot-6 and 190 pounds, transferred to Auburn from Georgia Tech in the offseason and has been working with his new teammates since June.
“I feel like I fit in great,” said Kelly. “This is the reason why I chose to come here in the first place. I knew what we had on the roster. I knew the freshmen we had coming in and the players we had coming back.
“Me just being able to add my talents and my game to this program, I think, is the reason why I was able to come here and why I chose to come here. BP and the staff, everybody, I think the system that he has fits my game perfectly.”
Kelly was an All-ACC honorable mention last season for the Yellow Jackets averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He made 184 3-pointers in three seasons at Tech.
“Miles, he was arguably Georgia Tech's best player last year,” said Pearl. “Played a ton of minutes and grew and developed in that program. Coach (Damon) Stoudamire did a great job bringing him along. And having to play him 32-plus minutes and, and now he's gonna come here and the way we play playing 10 guys double-digit minutes. He won't play 32 minutes every night.
“So therefore he is gonna be able to play and affect the game in more ways. He'll be able to affect the game with his length defensively, and he's really approved in that area. He's gonna affect the game hopefully by getting downhill and scoring more at the rim. He obviously is demonstrated to be a great three-point shooter with great range.”
Auburn opens the regular season Wednesday night against Vermont. Tip-off at Neville Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on SECN+/ESPN+.
