Bruce Pearl: “Our Path to Final Four Was Historic”

Auburn Tigers are probably the biggest sensation of the NCAA tournament so far. With all due respect to Texas Tech Red Raiders, Bruce Pearl’s boys are doing wonders.

Last night they eliminated the No.2 Kentucky Wildcats, 77-71 and progressed to the Final Four for the first time in their history.

And not only that, they did it without Chuma Okeke their best player who suffered a torn ACL in the Sweet 16 game against North Carolina.

The excellent forward joined his teammates in the second half against Kentucky, and cheered from behind the bench.

“He must have been watching the first half at the hotel and said, `I can’t stay here. I got to go,” Pearl said.

Okeke must have been anxious and nervous, though he didn’t show that often. And how couldn’t he, especially when Horace Spencer missed a three-pointer for the win. Prior to that, Spencer was superb on the other end of the court, making defensive efforts which stopped Kentucky’s players from scoring what might have been a winning basket.

Bryce Brown and Jared Harper played the game of their lives. The first one was harassing Kentucky’s defense in the regular part of the game, especially in the second half, and his drives to the basket were making coach John Calipari crazy. In the moments when Wildcats shut down the paint, Brown was bombarding from downtown.

“I took what the defense gave me,” he said. “I tried to stop on a dime and pull up for my midrange shot because they were running me off the 3-point line, as well.”

In the moments when the game was close, during the second half, the energetic point guard made a lot of troubles for the rivals. He wasn’t going to allow for Kentucky to beat him for the third time this season.

“Hey, I’m a senior and I’m not trying to go home,” Brown who had 24 points said.

In the meantime, Jared Harper was the guy who singlehandedly outplayed Wildcats in the overtime, outscoring the rival on his own, 12-11. The 5-11 guard’s mindset was fantastic, and he showed that by hitting all of his 11 free throws in this match. His 26 points were a team-high, and the only one who was more efficient than him was Kentucky’s PJ Brown with 28.

Harper didn’t want to talk about the stats or the highlights after the game. His message was that all this is for their injured teammate, who was a huge inspiration for the whole team last night, and will be next week in Minneapolis.

“Coming into the game, we said this is all for Chuma,” Harper said. “Going to the Final Four and trying to compete for a national championship is all for Chuma. He put so much on the line for us this year.”

Reaching the Final Four wasn’t easy for the Tigers, in fact, it was one of the toughest paths in the last several decades. They had to eliminate Kansas Jayhawks, North Carolina Tar Heels and eventually Kentucky. These three schools have 17 championships combined.

Since the start of the month, they have also defeated Tennessee Volunteers on two occasions, another ranked team.

Coach Pearl was less emotional than after the game against the Tar Heels in Sweet 16, and this time he was able to express his feelings during the on-court interview. He too wanted to remind everyone about the road which led his guys to the Final Four.

“It’s almost surreal to think that Auburn is going. Look at our path…It’s historic.”

And it will be even more spectacular if Auburn brings down the next opponent. Another No.1, Virginia Cavaliers. The chances are not high, but who knows.

Maybe the three-point shooting Tigers love so much explodes in this one. Against the Wildcats they made only 7 threes in 23 attempts, which is far below their average. They might save the best for the last.

The clash between the Tigers and Cavaliers is set for this Saturday at 6:09 local time in Minneapolis. It will be the opening game of the Final Four tournament, followed by the one between Michigan State Spartans and Texas Tech Red Raiders.