After they escaped an upset in their season opener against Bethune-Cookman on Monday night, the No. 20 Auburn Tigers responded by handling business against Merrimack, earning a 95-57 win inside Neville Arena on Thursday night.

From tipoff until final buzzer, the Tigers remained in control throughout the contest.

A lay-up from Sebastian Williams-Adams gave Auburn its first lead of the game at the 16:48 mark of the fisrt half, and it would never trail again.

After Keyshawn Hall hit two free-throws with 1:43 left to play in the first half, the Tigers' lead didn't dip below 15 points for the remainder of the game.

Auburn went on a 13-0 run from the 15:43 mark until the 13:05 mark in the second half. That 2:38 stretch enabled the Tigers to extend their lead from 19 to 31, enabling them to turn a comfortable win into a blowout.

Hall had another dominant outing, finishing the game with 25 points, 14 rebounds and one steal. He shot 6-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3-point range and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Four other members of the Tigers crossed the double-digit threshold in the points column. Williams-Adams ended the game with 14, Tahaad Pettiford had 13, Emeka Opurum had 11 and Abdulla Bashir had 10.

Auburn shot 31-of-62, 50%, from the field, 6-of-24, 25%, from 3-point range and 27-of-37, 73% from the free-throw line.

Ernest Shelton led Merrimack in scoring by a significant margin. He finished the game with 23 points, no one else on the team had more than five. He also added four rebounds and three steals.

As a team, Merrimack shot 16-of-56, 28.6%, from the field, 8-of-32, 25%, from 3-point range and 17-of-24, 70.8% from the free-throw line.

The Tigers (2-0) return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 11, when they host Wofford at 7 p.m. SEC Network+ will carry the broadcast.