Making his collegiate debut, Justin Powell didn’t look much like a freshman.

Powell arrived at Auburn as a 3-star shooting guard, but Bruce Pearl quickly started having him play some point guard.

The Goshen, Kentucky, native looked comfortable at the position in Auburn’s win over St. Joe’s, scoring 17 points. Powell also had seven rebounds and didn’t turn the ball over once.

He shot 4-of-10 from the field, 3-of-5 from deep and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity strike. Four of the free throws came in overtime, two of which pushed Auburn’s lead to two possessions with 16 seconds remaining.

Head coach Bruce Pearl liked what he saw out of his freshman guard.

“But to play that game and not have a turnover. We ask a lot of our point guard and I thought he did a terrific job,” Pearl said. “Great, great debut for Justin. Get to the foul line, make all his free throws, knock down some big threes. He played with confidence. I wanted him to shoot even more. I want him to shoot it when he’s open.”

Powell was under even more pressure than originally imagined, as he came into the game as the backup point guard with Sharife Cooper still under eligibility review by the NCAA and unable to play.

Cooper, who remained in Auburn and didn’t make the trip to Fort Myers, was someone Pearl knows was cheering for Powell on Thursday.

“A shooting guard out of Kentucky that is forced to play out of position without Sharife Cooper,” Pearl said. “I’ll tell you one thing, I know there’s nobody happier for Justin than Sharife. I’m telling you right now.”

Tyrell Jones got the start for Auburn, scoring 11 points in 18 minutes of play, but it was Powell who received more playing time, playing 27 minutes for Auburn.

Auburn was also +16 while Powell was on the court.

Powell and the Tigers will take on No. 1 Gonzaga at 10 a.m. CST, with the game broadcasted on Fox.