Auburn’s fears realized: Star Okeke has a torn ACL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl knew the moment sophomore forward Chuma Okeke landed on the floor, his left knee having buckled at a gruesome angle, that something serious had happened.
Pearl learned the extent of the damage Saturday.
An MRI exam revealed that Okeke tore his ACL late in the fifth-seeded Tigers’ victory over North Carolina, sidelining him for the rest of the NCAA Tournament. Their leading rebounder and third-leading scorer will have to watch from the bench when his red-hot team takes on second-seeded Kentucky in the Midwest Region finale today for a spot in the program’s first Final Four. Then, he’ll head back to Alabama to await surgery Tuesday with Dr. James Andrews.
“I knew that was no sprain,” Pearl said. “The reaction from all the guys is (it’s) really unfair, because he’s such a great kid, really hard worker, humble. But he has a big dream. Players like Chuma give other players courage and confidence. And we’re really going to miss him.”
The Tigers (29-9) will need all the courage and confidence they can get against the Wildcats (30-6), who roll into the Elite Eight with their usual assortment of NBA-ready playmakers.
Now, the question is whether Okeke’s injury can galvanize the team.
“It’s just another reason for our team to come even closer together,” said junior guard Jared Harper.
NEBRASKA: Fred Hoiberg, the former NBA player who coached Iowa State and the Chicago Bulls, was hired Saturday to coach a Nebraska team that had big hopes this season but finished with a 19-17 record and out of the NCAA Tournament yet again.
Hoiberg has strong ties to the school, which announced his hiring four days after seventh-year coach Tim Miles was fired.
Hoiberg, dismissed by the Bulls in December, agreed to a seven-year contract paying a total of $25 million.
The 46-year-old Hoiberg was born in Lincoln and maternal grandfather Jerry Bush was the Cornhuskers’ coach from 1954 to 1963. His paternal grandfather was a professor at Nebraska and his parents are graduates of the school.
Hoiberg went 115-155 from 2010-15 with the Bulls. Before that, he had a successful five-year run as Iowa State’s coach with an up-tempo, spread-the-floor offense. He went 115-56 and led the Cyclones to four straight NCAA Tournaments and two Big 12 tournament titles.
DIVISION II: In Evansville, Ind., Joey Witthus scored 24 points and Northwest Missouri State capped an undefeated season with a 64-58 victory over Point Loma (Calif.) on Saturday for its second Division II championship in three seasons.
Northwest Missouri State (38-0) became just the fifth team in Division II history to go undefeated with a national title, most recently by Findlay in 2009. The Bearcats also tied last season’s champion Ferris State (38-1) for the most wins in Division II history.
Sophomore forward Ryan Hawkins had nine points, 12 rebounds and four steals for the Bearcats. Division II player of the year Daulton Hommes scored 26 points for Point Loma (31-5).