The game didn’t count, but the situation already is forcing Auburn men’s basketball to show exactly why head coach Bruce Pearl believes his team is so deep.

For weeks before the teams’ 102-66 exhibition win over Auburn-Montgomery, Pearl discussed the difficulty he’s had picking a starting five. He’s said his team is deep enough for a 10-man rotation — albeit a 10-man rotation being a plan Pearl has used throughout his career — and that part of his concern for picking a starting lineup is not being confident his best guy is that much better than his 10th guy.

The lineup he picked for the exhibition had guards Tre Donaldson, Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson along with forwards Chris Moore and Johni Broome.

“I think that we could have 10 guys playing 20 minutes,” Pearl said after the game. “That’s a possibility. That won’t necessarily be the case. But that’s what it’s been throughout practice.”

But the depth of the team was already being tested before the game began due to an ankle injury for guard Aden Holloway. Holloway, a freshman and former 5-star recruit, has been in a battle with Donaldson for the point guard spot. Then, just over three minutes into the game, Broome was injured with what Pearl described as a “pinch in his rotator cuff.”

The game didn’t count, but Auburn was without its best player and its most highly regarded young talent.

Most of the test came at Auburn’s guard spots and specifically, what would happen behind Donaldson. Turns out Auburn actually had that answer already in its starting lineup, moving FIU transfer and shooting guard Denver Jones over to point guard when Donaldson wasn’t on the floor.

He’s played that position before, but it’s been a minute.

“My first experience playing point guard was my senior year of high school,” Jones said. “And then, when I went to (junior college), I played point guard there a little bit. I played point guard maybe a couple of years so it came in clutch for me tonight to learn and play point guard, learning that role cause one of my special guys, he’s out tonight.”

Jones played well in his altered role. On a night when Auburn shot the ball poorly from beyond the arc, Jones was a lone bright spot. Jones made four of his eight 3-point attempts. The rest of the team combined to make one of 17.

Jones led Auburn with 18 points and in minutes with 22.

“I thought that the last two games, we got great point-guard play from Denver and Tre the last game,” Pearl said. “Obviously Tre, an 8-1 assist-to-turnover, he did a nice job. And for the second game in a row, Denver didn’t turn it over. So playing a new position, playing point guard without Aden, that’s pretty good.”

Broome’s injury meant an extended role for backup center Dylan Cardwell, who played well on both ends. He finished with nine points and 10 rebounds along with four steals. He made five of his six free throw attempts. Pearl believes Cardwell would have gotten his first Auburn double-double if he hadn’t dealt with cramps and came out near the end of the game.

“Dylan Cardwell continues to play really well,” Pearl said. “He continues to be a factor in there. He’s so big in the air, great offensive rebounding, tough defensive rebounding. He’s really worked hard on his free-throw stroke; he’s simplified it. And he goes 5-for-6 tonight. Huge. Just huge.”

Though the injury to Broome also allowed Pearl to experiment with a small-ball lineup and put Jaylin Williams at center. Williams is 6-foot-8 and it’s an Auburn team that isn’t going to be touted for being one of the bigger lineups in America overall. But Williams at center is a combination that gives Auburn both flexibility behind Broome as well as a quick, higher-shooting potential lineup.

Williams didn’t make any of the three 3-pointers he attempted, but he is a player who can make 3s — albeit also not a shooter Auburn would rely on. He played 21 minutes, scored 11 points including a few thunderous dunks, grabbed six rebounds, blocked four shots and had two steals. Like Cardwell, it was a noticeable effort on both sides of the floor.

Auburn isn’t expecting to be without Holloway or Broome for any notable amount of time. It’s quite possible, if not likely, that both will play in Tuesday’s season opener against Baylor.

But after the AUM exhibition, Auburn both showed fans the depth of this team and showed itself how that depth can be unconventionally utilized.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]