KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Auburn is no longer a shocking surprise in this NCAA tournament.
The Tigers, which came out of nowhere in early February to win their first SEC championship since 1985, are on a roll, blowing by ACC top-seeded blue blood North Carolina, 97-80, here Friday night at the Sprint Center to advance to the NCAA Midwest Region finals against Kentucky Sunday.
The Tigers (29-9) have now won 11 straight games and 13 of their last 14, beating nationally ranked conference rival Tennessee—coach Bruce Pearl’s former team– three straight times during this sizzling run.
Auburn has never been to a Final Four, but this was by far the Tigers’ biggest win to date and possibly their best performance ever in post season. The team that has distinguished itself by shooting a barrage of threes, was on fire, draining 17 shots from beyond the arc, 12 in the second half. They turned a 41-39 lead at half into a total blowout with 10 straight points at the start of the second half with two threes from guards Jared Harper and Bryce Brown.
“We are who we are,’’ Tigers’ coach Bruce Pearl said.
The Tigers did not back down from North Carolina’s fast pace. Well over half of Auburn’s 66 shots were taken from three and the Tigers made 67 percent of those threes in the second half.
“We knew they were a good team and we knew we had to keep them out of their fast break,’’ Auburn guard Malik Dunbar said. ‘We were watching a lot of people in the media saying they thought North Carolina was going to win, so that just pumped us up.’’
North Carolina, (29-7) who had two key players—forwards Cam Johnson and Nassir Little—playing with the flu, had no answers for Auburn’s speed and shooting in an up and down game.
“I felt like the second half we came out, didn’t play our principles,’’ Carolina senior forward Luke Maye said. “They hit some shots, and we kind of tried to get it back in one play. I felt like we didn’t play to our strengths at the end and we forced some shots. But give Auburn credit, they shot the ball well and we didn’t guard well enough to win tonight.’’
Call the fire department. This Auburn team was a raging inferno.
In order to get to Minneapolis, the Tigers most likely will have to do it without Chuma Okeko, their 6-8 sophomore forward and most versatile player who scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds before he suffered a serious knee injury with 8:08 to play. He did not return. As soon as Okeko went down, the Auburn players returned to the huddle and began to pray. The UNC players, in an ultimate show of class, also came over to console him as he lay on the court.
“It was a bitter sweet accomplishment because of Chuma getting hurt,’’ Pearl said. “Ina game full guys that have a chance to play at the next level, I thought he was the best player.’’
The Tigers, who can go 10 deep in their rotation with contributing players, did not need Okeko to finish off the Tar Heels. Auburn put six players in double figures, including Okeke’s backup Daniel Purifoy, who scored 12 points on four threes. They ran Tom Davis’ old flex cut offense to perfection, getting great spacing and shooting 64.3 percent in the second half when they outscored North Carolina, 56-41. “if you want to give my team a compliment, tell me they looked like a Tom Davis team. If you are good at what you do chances are you had a good mentor. I was lucky enough to be with him for so many years as an Iowa. Deflected all the credit all the time. Loved his players. Had tremendous patience. And I think Tom probably borrowed the Carolina break. I know Tom is proud that his system was able to take on the North Carolina system, and with respect, come out on top.’’
Beating Kentucky is another story. The Cats buried Auburn , 80-53, in Lexington during the regular season.
“We played Kentucky and they physically overwhelmed us,’’ Pearl said. “We recognized Kentucky had a great night and these guys weren’t destroyed. We haven’t lost since that game in late February.’’
The Tigers have a chance to make history, which should please former Auburn star and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. “Three games away,’’ guard Bryce Brown said. “That’s the bottom line. I’m a senior. I’m the leader of this team and I want to lead my guys to a national championship. This is an 11- game winning streak. Three more games is nothing.’’
