Since coming back Auburn’s relied on Sharife Cooper to be dominant.

Against Alabama, Cooper finished with 26 points in Auburn’s 94-90 loss. Cooper followed that up with 28 points against Georgia.

But against Kentucky, Cooper didn’t need to light up the stat-sheet for Auburn to pull out a win.

“And again that’s why today when Sharife doesn’t have his best game — he still draws nine fouls, he still gets eight assists, he’s still got a great plus-minus — but he also sees, ‘I don’t have to carry,’” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “I want him to carry us, but even when he doesn’t we can still win. And that’s a really good sign, and it’s play from Devan Cambridge, or Allen Flanigan or Dylan Cardwell, Jaylin Williams, it makes all the difference in the world.”

Cooper finished the game with 11 points, eight assists and three rebounds while shooting 3-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from deep. Still, Cooper finished the game +11 in 34 minutes of play.

Allen Flanigan led the way for Auburn, finishing the game with 21 points with 16 coming in the second half.

Along with Flanigan, Devan Cambridge continued his recent stretch of solid performances.

Since going to the bench in place of Cooper in the starting lineup, Cambridge has scored 10, 14 and 13 points in games against Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.

Cambridge shot 3-of-5 from downtown against Kentucky, with the rest of the team combining to shoot 2-of-19.

“Playing for Auburn, everybody has the green light, basically,” Cambridge said. “Sharife at the point, he's always going to find me. I'm gonna take those shots if they're open. I'll continue to shoot them. I'm never down on myself. If I'm missing shots, I'll continue to put them up.”

Even though he’s not in the starting lineup anymore, Cambridge still carries the same mindset into every game.

“I still have the same mindset. I was willing to do that. That’s my brother,” Cambridge said of going to the bench so Cooper could start. “Since he’s been here, everybody has played better games. Everybody in our lineup. To have those big games, I’m excited. I’m planning on keep doing that with Sharife.”

Even while struggling to shoot the ball early in his Auburn career, Pearl emphasized after the game it’s something other teams have to focus on.

“I’m gonna put the ball in his hands and he’s gonna run the show,” Pearl said of Cooper. “And he’s gonna get us shots, he’s gonna score himself. The stat sheet may say that he’s not shooting well from three, I’m just telling you, you better guard him there. He can shoot the three-ball.”

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