AUBURN | The expectations were pretty high for T.J. Dunans heading into his senior season.

The former junior college transfer was Auburn's leading returning scorer averaging 11.6 points per game and was second on last year’s team in assists (54) and steals (25).

But six games in, it’s been quite the opposite.

Dunans is averaging just 5.5 points per game, is second on the team with 15 turnovers and is shooting just 30.4 percent from the floor, well below his 46.1 percent last season.

“He has been inconsistent. He has struggled some,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “The good news is he continues to try and find his way. It’s not easy. He’s had to find his niche. The good news is he’s a position where he hasn’t played his best basketball and he’s one of our best players.”

The biggest issue for Dunans has been finding his role on a team where three talented freshmen are leading in scoring in Danjel Purifoy (16.2 ppg), Mustapha Heron (14.7) and Jared Harper (10.5).

With less shots available at times, Dunans has been forcing things on offense, especially in the second half where Auburn has been out-scored in three-straight games by a total of 39 points.

“I guess that’s the main focus we have to start doing in the second half, just focus straight on defense and not worry about shots and who’s taking shots and stuff like that,” senior center LaRon Smith said.

Dunans shares the wing position with Heron, sophomore Bryce Brown and junior TJ Lang. Dunans had to take over the point guard position last season after the departure of Kareem Canty but Harper and graduate transfer Ronnie Johnson have taken that responsibility.

“There’s moments in the course of the season where T.J. has been really effective. We don’t beat Texas Tech without him. Period,” Pearl said. “Again, in rebuilding this program the personalities, the makeup, the chemistry, the culture of our team has changed every single year because of how the roster has turned over. So now T.J. finds himself as one of our leaders and a veteran player who is trying to help us blend in three really talented freshmen in Jerrod, Mustapha and Danjel.

“I’ve got T.J. Dunans coming off the bench because if I would start him with Mustapha and Danjel, that’s pretty strong offensive weapons. In bringing him off the bench, there’s a chance I’ll always have two of those three players on the floor so we can put him in a position to utilize his talents.”

Auburn (5-1) plays at UAB (4-3) Saturday. Tip-off at Bartow Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on beIN Sports.