AUBURN | Sharife Cooper is already on a record-breaking pace five games into his Auburn career.

The true freshman, who missed the first 11 games of the season waiting for the NCAA to rule on his eligibility, is averaging 21.2 points and 9.0 assists in five games.

Eddie Johnson currently holds the Auburn freshman scoring record averaging 21.8 points in 1973-74, and AU’s single-season assist record is 6.7 per game, which was done twice, by Gerald White in 1985-86 and current AU assistant Wes Flanigan in 1995-96.

Auburn is 3-2 with Cooper starting at point guard. It’s an incredible start for a player that had never played a college game until Jan. 9.

“Well, there's a reason why he's the No. 1 recruit that Auburn's ever signed, right? And so, expectations were high,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl after the Tigers’ 109-86 win at South Carolina. “You know, we didn't complain a lot when he wasn't available because he wasn't available. But can you imagine, me, knowing what's not playing? But I didn't have him.

“So we had to coach the guys that we had. And I was proud of those guys for going 6-2 in the non conference, knowing what he does to us, what he does to everybody else. I'm not surprised.”

Cooper was close to Auburn’s second-ever triple double against the Gamecocks, finishing with 16 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and two blocks. He was +32 in 27 minutes on the floor.

“If he's not shooting well, he’ll still have 15 assists,” sophomore Jaylin Williams said. “He's going to pick his teammates up, and we try to pick him up. He's been very impressive this year.”

Oakland’s Jalen Moore currently lead the NCAA averaging 8.0 assists per game. When Cooper gets enough games under his belt, he’ll top that list and be tied for second in the SEC and be within the top 20 nationally in scoring.

He’s doing it all listed as 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds on Auburn’s roster.

“The thing about Sharife is, to be a great undersized player you gotta be the toughest guy on the floor and Sharife is going to get bounced every game, all game. It doesn’t bother him. It just doesn’t,” Pearl said. “He’s a tough kid. And that is required amongst undersized players. And you know what? The opponent knows that, they do. That’s what they should fear.”

Cooper is already showing signs of improvement and there’s certainly no reason his numbers can’t get even better as AU plays its final 11 games of the season. After making just 1 of 16 3-pointers and averaging 4.7 turnovers in his first three games, he’s made 4 of 9 3-pointers and averaged 3.5 turnovers in his last two.

He shot 37.0 percent from the floor in his first three games and 44.8 in his last two.

“He's a very coachable person. He's very accountable,” Pearl said. “And look, this is a point guard -- it's a point guard's dream system. You know, and that's why he saw the guys before him, go 'Oh gosh. You're going to give me the ball and let me do that?' Yeah. And so, he's taken advantage of it.”

Auburn hosts Missouri Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.