Auburn Looks To Collectively Fill Void Left By Okeke Injury

By Scott Ratcliffe

MINNEAPOLIS — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl lost a vital piece of his team when sophomore forward Chuma Okeke tore his ACL against top-seeded North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen last weekend, but he’s hoping to use the rest of his team to collectively fill Okeke’s shoes.

Okeke, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound native of Atlanta, started all 38 games he played this season and averaged 12 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds a game, along with 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks and 1.9 assists.

Okeke put up seven double-doubles in 2018-19, including an 18-and-13 performance against Tennessee in the SEC title game. He had scored a game-high 20 points (on 8-of-11 shooting) and hauled down a game-high 11 boards when he fell to the floor while attempting a shot with just over 8 minutes left against Carolina, grabbing at his left knee in agony.

“It’s a bittersweet accomplishment because of Chuma getting hurt,” Pearl said of advancing past UNC. “In a game full of guys that have a chance to play at the next level, I thought he was the best player.”

Up by 16 at the time, the Tigers didn’t let up and not only went on to defeat the top-seeded Tar Heels by 17, but kept it rolling with a 6-point overtime victory over second-seeded Kentucky to reach Minneapolis, with Okeke in attendance in a wheelchair.

“This one’s for Chuma,” Pearl said after clinching the program’s first trip to the Final Four. “The next two are for Auburn.”

With a win over Kansas in the Round of 32 added in, Auburn rolls into the Final Four having eliminated college basketball’s three winningest programs in a row, but how much different will it be without Okeke on the floor?

Against Kentucky, the backcourt duo of Jared Harper and Bryce Brown combined for 50 of Auburn’s 77 points, while no other Tiger scored more than 8. Forwards Anfernee McLemore (6-7, 220 pounds) and Danjel Purifoy (6-7, 230 pounds) both played 30-plus minutes, with McLemore getting the start and Purifoy coming off the bench.

McLemore was 4 for 10 against UK for 8 points and 5 rebounds, while Purifoy scored 6 points on 2-for-8 shooting and grabbed 7 boards.

Senior forward Horace Spencer (6-8, 225 pounds) started, but went 0 for 3 and did not score in his 13 minutes of action. The team’s only true center, 6-11 Austin Wiley, played 14 minutes off the bench against the Wildcats, finishing with 7 points and a pair of rebounds in his 14 minutes.

Pearl plans to stick with a committee approach in terms of filling the Okeke void against Virginia.

“We played 36 hours later and we truly didn’t have enough time to think about what we had lost,” said Pearl, when asked how he motivated his team to get past UK following Okeke’s exit. “Does the idea of a little bit more Austin Wiley, Anfernee McLemore, Horace Spencer and Danjel Purifoy, does that sound good? I think the answer is any of those guys does sound good. You don’t talk about, ‘We’re going to lose 32 minutes of my most valuable player,’ that’s not where you go. More of those guys is a good thing. So let’s take advantage of more of those guys — what are the things they do? It’s all about trusting each other. It’s all about relying on each other.

“Those guys are ready to respond. They’re different than Chuma, but I think they’re ready to respond.”

Pearl pointed out an old lesson he learned from his old boss, former Boston College and Iowa coach Tom Davis, that “the time to shorten or narrow your bench is not in the postseason,” so expect all of “those guys” to be thrown into action against the Wahoos Saturday night. Okeke reportedly did not travel with the team to Minneapolis.