AUBURN | Not bad for a true freshman playing in his first college game two days after he reported.

Austin Wiley finished with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes to help Auburn to a 76-74 win over Mercer Sunday at Auburn Arena.

“At first I was nervous but as the game started flowing, I started picking it up and got comfortable out there as the game was going,” said Wiley, a 6-foot-11 center.

Wiley, the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Auburn and only the second five-star signee in school history, transferred from Spain Park in Hoover, Ala., to Calusa Prep in Miami, Fla., this summer in order to graduate early and enroll at Auburn in December.

He is the son of former Auburn players Aubrey Wiley and Vickie Orr.

“He’s a terrific, terrific young man who is extremely dedicated, that worked really hard to get here,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “Keep in mind: Austin loved Spain Park, and Spain Park loved him. They almost won a championship together. But when it became a potential option for him to start his career a little sooner, everybody knew that, for his own development, that that could be something that would be a real positive.

“But he had to give a lot up. He had to leave home, he had to go to Florida, he had to go to summer school, fall classes and speed it up. And he grinded. He worked. As a result now, he’s a part of the Auburn family, which is something that his mother and father have been working toward for a long time.”

It took about a week for Wiley to be cleared by Auburn, the NCAA and SEC to enroll after he finished up his classwork. He practiced with his teammates for the first time Friday afternoon.

“I just tried to stay ready,” Wiley said. “I worked out and kept getting better. I wanted to come in in shape so I just kept working.”

He made his Auburn debut with 12:55 left in the first half playing six minutes before the break and nine more minutes in the second half. Wiley, who was clapping his hands and asking for the ball when he posted up, shot 2-of-5 from the floor and made 5-of-8 free throws.

“Our guys have never looked in there all year. So my job is to now teach them to look in there a little bit,” Pearl said of passing into the post.

Wiley made a go-ahead basket with 46.6 seconds left and was on the floor when T.J. Dunans sank the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“For him to have picked up on the things he needed to do in such a short period of time is remarkable,” Pearl said. “I thought that potentially his presence would be such a distraction as far as he wouldn't know where to go or what to do. That could hurt us beating Mercer. That wasn't the case. His presence helped us.”

The Tigers return to action Wednesday against Oklahoma in Uncasville, Conn. Tip-off on CBS Sports Network is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.