Every team that tried to run with North Carolina last year got run off the court. Bruce Pearl didn't care. That's how his team played, and he wasn't about to change the identity with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
The game was as advertised, a track meet that featured 177 combined points, but it was Auburn who proved to be faster. The Tigers put up nearly 100 points on North Carolina in what was arguably their best performance of the NCAA Tournament. They went on a 17-2 run that spanned both halves to take control and then put the Tar Heels away with another 16-3 run midway through the second half.
"For me, one of the best games as far as pure basketball that gets lost in our NCAA Tournament run is North Carolina," Pearl said. "It's probably the best basketball game of all of them because both teams played great offensively and both teams made shots."
With the victory, Auburn advanced to the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history. It was bittersweet, though, because it was also the game where the Tigers lost Chuma Okeke to a season-ending knee injury.
Okeke was playing maybe the best game of his Auburn career with 20 points and 11 rebounds before going down at the 8:08 mark in the second half.
"Unlike many players who know they're going to be playing in the NBA at some point, Chuma was never focused on himself, his own numbers, or playing his way into the NBA," Pearl said. "It was always about winning. It was always about getting better. Staying humble and hungry.
"But the second he went down, I shifted right to there because I knew it was serious and I knew that – when he really had never thought about it out loud – playing in the NBA would be something that he would think about at that moment because then it became personal. That's one of the reasons I was so upset. I was worried about what was going to happen to him in the short term.
"I wasn't worried about the team. We'd be fine. Next man up."
Okeke's teamamtes responded, fending off North Carolina in the final eight minutes, and three months later, Okeke was taken No. 16 overall by the Orlando Magic in the NBA draft.
Impact player: Chuma Okeke
Before the injury, Okeke was easily the best player on the floor, and that included the three North Carolina players taken in the first round of the 2019 NBA draft. The sophomore put Auburn on the board with a sweet spin move to the basket for two. He then knocked down a corner 3 to give the Tigers their first lead at 10-9.
It was that way throughout. Effortless. It didn't matter if he was draining a 3 or posting up inside and showing his soft touch, Okeke couldn't be stopped. He was 8 of 11 from the field and finished with 20 points in 25 minutes. He also added 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. It was a memorable performance in what turned out to be his final game in an Auburn uniform.
Play of the game: McCormick at the horn
Fans will remember J'Von McCormick's floater at the buzzer to beat LSU this year. He had a similar moment at the end of the first half against North Carolina.
With six seconds left and the game tied, McCormick went the length of the court, split two defenders at the 3-point circle, slashed to the basket and laid it in with the right hand as time expired. It capped a 6-0 run to end the half to give Auburn a 41-39 lead. That momentum carried over into the second half where the Tigers started on an 11-2 run to make it 53-41. McCormick tallied 10 points off the bench.
Key stat: Six in double figures
Okeke led the way with a game-high 20 points, but he was one of six Auburn players to score in double figures. And the most surprising part? Jared Harper was not among those six. The junior point guard dished out 11 assists but finished with just nine points.
Bryce Brown scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Malik Dunbar knocked down three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. McCormick and Samir Doughty both added 10 points off the bench. And Danjel Purifoy, who filled in for Okeke after the injury, enjoyed a breakout game with four 3s in the second half – three coming in a span of 1:11 to put Auburn up 73-57. As a team, the Tigers shot 54.5 percent from the field.
Quotable
"Unbelievable. Amazing. It doesn't even seem real yet. Knocking off UNC by almost 20 points. I don't know if there's another team that could do that besides us." – Bryce Brown
"I'm really proud of our team. We were able to make history. We do not drop off when we go to our bench and we'll be ready for whoever we play on Sunday." – Chuma Okeke
"That's who we are. We're best when everybody contributes." – Bruce Pearl