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Miles Kelly let everyone know he was feeling himself after the Auburn Tigers beat Alabama State in the NCAA Tournament

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Justin Churchill | Last updated Mar 20, 2025 11:11 PM ET

Despite the box score showing a lopsided game in favor of the Auburn Tigers by 20 points, Alabama State made them work for it in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers won big, but they didn't play all that well.

After the game head coach Bruce Pearl spent a good amount of time complaining about the effort from his team. He wasn't very happy, at all actually. And, that's probably because he knows that his team is better than what they showed. He did mention that Alabama State is a good team, but he knows that Auburn has the potential to win it all. If they play the way they played Thursday, against Creighton on Saturday, they may lose.

But during his rants he did mention one player that stood out.

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Miles Kelly started hot in this game. It seemed like he wasn't missing, even though he was 7/15 from deep. The Tigers relied on him for most of their offense, and he came through. He had a great game, and afterwards, he was feeling himself.

"I'm a shot maker," Kelly said in the locker room. "My teammates did a great job of finding me, all I had to do was knock down the shot. Ultimately that's what I did out there today. I think I said it yesterday, I love Rupp [Arena] Rims. I love these rims. So, all they had to do was get me the ball, find me, get good looks, and I was going to knock the shots down."

“I’m a shot maker.”

7️⃣ 3-pointers Thursday for @Kelly5Miles, tying the @AuburnMBB #MarchMadness record for 3s by another Stone Mountain sharpshooter, @Bwb_2

1️⃣6️⃣ for Miles in two games this month at Rupp Arena.

“I love Rupp rims. All they had to do was get me the ball.” ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jDmKEASsDQ
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) March 20, 2025

Kelly finished with 23 points, three rebounds, and three assist. And, he played pretty good defense, all things considered. Kelly is one of the most important parts of this team, it just doesn't get talked about as much as it probably should because they have a dominant player in Johni Broome on their team.

If Kelly can keep shooting like this, and the things improve that need to be improved, they are unstoppable.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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