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'Nightmare matchup' Isaac Okoro leads Auburn down the stretch

Bruce Pearl hasn't seen a finisher like this from the wing position in 17 years.

The last one that came to mind for the head coach was Clay Tucker, a current Auburn grad assistant, former scoring machine and two-time, first-team All-Horizon League selection for Pearl's Wisconsin-Milwaukee squad in the early 2000s that made the NCAA Tournament.

But even he isn't "quite like Isaac."

Okoro (23) led Auburn down the stretch with 11 of its final 13 points.
Okoro (23) led Auburn down the stretch with 11 of its final 13 points. (John Reed / USA TODAY)
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"When he first got here, I was saying, like, he's probably one of the best finishers I've ever met or witnessed in person," senior guard Samir Doughty said of Okoro. "But I mean, he works on his game all day every day, so that's no surprise. The things that he do, it's no surprise because of his work ethic. He's in the gym more than anybody. That's probably why he's a good finisher."

Okoro was an elite finisher Saturday inside Auburn Arena both in terms of scoring at the rim and closing out a victory.

"I mean, my teammates were just getting me the ball," Okoro said. "Like Samir, just in transition, just finding me, just getting me open shots. And me just being aggressive, going to the rim and trying to get to the free throw line."

The 6-foot-6 freshman scored 11 of Auburn's final 13 points, and the Tigers needed every bit of his efforts to fend off Iowa State, 80-76 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

"We also know they had problems guarding Isaac at the end of the game, so everybody wanted the ball in his hands," Doughty said. "And when one of our players is hot, we're going to get him the basketball. And he was rolling at the time, so we decided, the five that was out there on the court, to get Isaac the basketball."

Okoro finished with a team-high 19 points, including 14 in the second half on 5-for-6 shooting. Everything came around the rim for Okoro late as the star freshman blew past defenders, challenged the trees under rim and came away the victor more often than not.

"Isaac Okoro is still the nightmare matchup, inside and out," Pearl said.

Iowa State went on a 12-2 run late after Auburn led by as many as 18 in the second half. The Cyclones cut the lead down to 78-74 before Okoro made two clutch shots at the foul line.

Doughty helped out mightily with 18 points — his most since dropping 24 on NC State before conference play began — with 10 coming in the second half. He and Okoro combined for 24 of the Tigers' 38 points in the final 20 minutes.

But Doughty still made sure to defer to the freshman phenom down the stretch.

"Today when we got in a timeout, I just told [Okoro], ‘Hey man, I just love playing with you,'" Doughty said. "He just has a great IQ, great feel for the game. I just love playing with Isaac. He’s just going to always make the right decisions.

"He just cares about winning and I’m pretty sure everybody knows that he’s just going to make the right play each and every time."

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