KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Friday he hoped for the best and feared the worst when it came to Chuma Okeke's knee injury sustained against North Carolina.
The news was bad. Okeke has a torn ACL and has surgery scheduled for Tuesday.
Pearl announced the injury on Saturday during media availability for the Midwest Regional championship game against Kentucky. Tipoff on Sunday at the Sprint Center is 1:20 p.m. Central time.
Okeke went down under the basket during the second half of Auburn's 97-80 victory over top-seeded North Carolina on Friday. He crashed to the floor while going up for a layup with 8:08 remaining.
Players from both teams went to where Okeke had fallen.
Okeke finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. In Auburn's three victories, Okeke is averaging 15 points and seven rebounds.
"It's another reason for our team to come even closer," Auburn junior guard Jared Harper said.
