They did it for Chuma

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Auburn players hopped on the stage in the middle of the Sprint Center, all donning their bright white Midwest regional championship hats. Malik Dunbar and Horace Spencer danced, as they do. Samir Doughty smiled and soaked in the scene. Danjel Purifoy turned and raised his arms to the crowd.

That crowd — a group of Auburn fans severely outnumbered by Big Blue Nation during the game — began a chant that brought chills and tears. The Auburn players heard it and instantly stopped their on-stage celebrations to join in with the Auburn faithful.

"Chuma! Chuma! Chuma!" everyone yelled together.

Since the 8:08 mark against North Carolina, Chuma Okeke has had a torn ACL. Everyone knew coming into the Kentucky game that Okeke's season was over. His role as the team's best defender and most versatile offensive weapon was no longer accessible. Many people viewed that as the end of Auburn's season.

The Tigers weren't going to let that happen. They did it for Chuma.

When they woke up Sunday morning, they got word Okeke likely wouldn't be with them during the game. He'd woken up in a lot of pain, and it didn't look like it was going away. It made more sense for Okeke to stay in his hotel to watch Auburn's Elite Eight match than to wheel around the Sprint Center with such discomfort.

"Before the game, I asked him, ‘Are you going to make it to the game?’ He told me, ‘No, I probably won’t make it because I’m in so much pain,'" Bryce Brown said.

Okeke's teammates understood. But they still wanted him there in spirit.

That's why Malik Dunbar ran out of the pregame tunnel with a No. 5 jersey over his usual warmups. In the pregame locker room, they played music and had fun like they normally do, and they did so with an open seat in front of Okeke's locker. They all took moments before the game to acknowledge the empty space — so much so that Horace Spencer said it "basically felt like he was there with us anyway."

"I just wanted to keep him in our spirits," Dunbar said. "I wish he was out here with us. We wanted to find a way to keep him out there with us."

But Okeke sat at his hotel and couldn't bear the separation from his brothers. The pain he was in no longer mattered.

Okeke decided a little before halftime — watching Auburn scrap back from an 11-point deficit — he needed to get to the arena. As soon as possible. Word started to get around the Auburn coaching staff Okeke was on his way. Steven Pearl walked into the halftime locker room and relayed the message to the Tigers, who reacted exactly as he thought they might.

"When we were coming in for halftime, I stopped BP and said, ‘Hey, 5 is on his way. He’s coming to the game.’ I think at halftime, he probably sat there and said, ‘My teammates need me right now.’ He sucked it up and battled through and found a way to show up," Steven Pearl said. "As soon as I told the guys, all their eyes got big. I think they understood what they were playing for. They had the whole hashtag going #DoItForChuma. I think once they found out he was coming, it gave them even more reason to step up and find a way to win for him."

"This locker room is so tight. These kids all love each other," he added. "As soon as Chuma went down, we just won a Sweet 16 game. Everyone was in here crying. The emotion they showed, how much they are for their brother. I knew they were going to step up."

The exact moment Okeke's wheelchair entered the Sprint Center isn't clear. But it was right around the start of the second half.

From the 19:34 mark to the 17:46 mark, Auburn went on a 10-point run. It went from a seven-point deficit to the first lead of the Elite Eight. Call it destiny. Call it divine intervention. Call it whatever you want. But as Okeke rolled toward the court, Auburn started to play its best basketball of the night against a team it struggled to play well against even when it had Okeke at full health.

By the time Okeke officially arrived, Auburn was in the lead. His mom and brother and a few university officials pushed Okeke onto the floor during a timeout and wheeled him in behind the Auburn bench.

Brown, his closest friend and roommate, broke from the huddle to pay his respects. Doughty did, too.

"When I seen him get out to the arena, it just made me happy and put a smile on my face. He just pulled up and surprised all of us," Brown said. "I just went over there and gave him a hug."

Okeke sat there for the rest of the game. It was tough for him to watch, no doubt, seeing Auburn's other bigs fall into foul trouble, watching PJ Washington hang 28 points, knowing he wouldn't have an in-game role in this one, or if the Tigers advanced the Final Four.

But his smile never wavered.

That bashful smile became contagious for an Auburn squad who wanted so badly to win a game without its most valuable player.

"We just had him behind the bench. To be able to turn around and see him smiling, it was just inspiring," Dunbar said. "It juiced us up a lot just to have him out there behind the bench. He had a big smile."

But the Tigers also understood what they had to do. They couldn't just say they were going to do it for Chuma. They had to actually do it.

Brown couldn't miss. Harper attacked the rim with unstoppable ferocity. Okeke's committee of replacements Purifoy, Spencer, McLemore and Wiley limited the Kentucky rebounding advantage and found ways to get enough paint points to challenge the Wildcats.

Once Okeke rolled onto the floor, Auburn only had one choice.

"Our soldier is here, and he’s not going to be able to play, so we’ve gotta play even better for him," Spencer said. "We’ve got to be able to muster up something — more heart, more effort — just to make it worthwhile for him to come watch it."

They needed five extra minutes to do it, but they did it.

As Auburn's players marched up the ladder to cut down the Midwest regional nets, there wasn't any dispute who would get the final snip to put the entire net around their neck. Okeke couldn't walk up the ladder himself, so Anfernee McLemore did the honors. He snipped off a small piece for himself to tie around his hat.

Then he cut off the last remaining thread to secure the whole net. He stepped down and went immediately to Okeke who sported the Elite Eight victory net with pride as the entire arena shouted his name.

"I know he wished he was out there with us cutting nets. We just wanted to keep him involved as much as we can," Dunbar said. "From here on out, everything we do, we're doing it for Chuma."