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Shorthanded Auburn stuns again, topples Kentucky to advance to 1st Final Four - AOL

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Brandon Clarke #15 and Rui Hachimura #21 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs compete for the ball against Norense Odiase #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders fights for the ball against Josh Perkins #13 and Jeremy Jones #22 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Tariq Owens #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Honda Center on March 30, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 30: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers battles for a loose ball with Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 30: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates after making a game-tying shot over Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers to extend the game to overtime as time expires in the second half of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 30, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 31: Ashton Hagans #2 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts during the first half against the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 31, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 31: PJ Washington #25 of the Kentucky Wildcats passes the ball against Austin Wiley #50 and Danjel Purifoy #3 of the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 31, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Auburn's Jared Harper, left, drives to the basket past Kentucky's Reid Travis during the first half of the Midwest Regional final game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Sunday, March 31, 2019, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Auburn's Anfernee McLemore (24) and Kentucky's Reid Travis (22) reach for a rebound during the first half of the Midwest Regional final game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Sunday, March 31, 2019, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett celebrates after defeating Purdue 80-75 in overtime of the men's NCAA Tournament college basketball South Regional final game, Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Purdue's Trevion Williams (50) puts up a shot against Virginia's Jack Salt (33) during the second half of the men's NCAA Tournament college basketball South Regional final game, Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Virginia's De'Andre Hunter dribbles past Purdue's Grady Eifert (24) during the first half of the men's NCAA Tournament college basketball South Regional final game, Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Gonzaga forward Rui Hachimura scores against Texas Tech during the first half of a men's NCAA Tournament college basketball West Regional final game Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Tech celebrates after the team scored against Gonzaga during the second half of the West Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Virginia's Mamadi Diakite, center, reacts with teammates Kyle Guy and Jack Salt (33) after hitting a shot to send the game into overtime in the men's NCAA Tournament college basketball South Regional final game against Purdue, Saturday, March 30, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Duke vs. Michigan State score: Spartans upset No. 1 overall seed Blue Devils to move on to Final Four - CBS Sports

ADOB: This Is The Day - Rivals.com

Days like this don't come around very often.

Auburn, armed with its new (and wholly deserved) reputation as demystifier of blue-blood basketball, will play Kentucky for a trip to the Final Four. You know the stakes. You know because you watched this team dismantle Kansas last week and wondered if this was real life. You watched this team dismantle North Carolina the other day and wondered again if this was real life.

Then you realized: Auburn really is this good. Auburn really has come this far. And if it manages to topple a third consecutive blue-blooded opponent, well, history will be made.

This will be framed as a David-versus-Goliath showdown because America loves that storyline. It's familiar. It resonates with people who fancy themselves as the underdog, which is basically me and you and everybody we know. The stunning loss of Chuma Okeke to a torn knee ligament on a non-contact play Friday adds even more complexity to a task that Auburn already has failed twice this season.

Yet this underdog role feels forced, undeserved.

Auburn is the hottest team in America. It has not lost a game since Feb. 24. Eleven consecutive wins coming off a drubbing to this same Kentucky team has proven many things to be true. This team evolved from a two-man show into a symphony of contributors. This head coach, Bruce Pearl, has proven that he still has what it takes to field a team capable of competing at the highest level. This university has rallied behind Pearl's fifth Auburn team with remarkable fervor, even spawning a cute song and a cool hashtag (#DoItForChuma) and some of the most entertaining sports banter ever televised thanks to Charles Barkley.

Underdogs don't have that. Any of it.

Point guard Jared Harper on both Friday night and Saturday afternoon described Okeke as the Tigers' most valuable player. He's correct. Okeke's versatility — his ability to hit threes and turnaround jumpers from 10 feet on consecutive possessions and defend guards and forwards alike — is the biggest reason this team learned to cope when Harper and shooting guard Bryce Brown couldn't deliver. He's become a tremendous player, but Okeke also is such a vital element inside the locker room as well. The sophomore lives in his own world, sure, but it's a happy world. He's a happy person. His happiness and happy-go-lucky attitude have brought serenity to a locker room that, frankly, was far too fractious a year ago.

He's obviously a difficult player for Pearl to lose heading into this rematch with Kentucky.

He's also the perfect guy to spawn an emotional rally. Why? Because Okeke is so popular and lovable and understated and largely forgotten by folks outside of Auburn. How else can one explain Okeke's omission from the All-SEC teams this season?

Replacing Okeke's contributions will be a challenge, especially given Kentucky forward P.J. Washington's triumphant return from injury Friday night, but Auburn believes it can manage things with nine healthy contributors. It has the lopsided loss in Lexington on its mind. It has Okeke's injury in mind. It has recent, dominating victories over Tennessee and Kansas and North Carolina on its mind.

Auburn might be the team in better position today.

Look, this season already has been a runaway success. We're talking about a program that hasn't made the Elite Eight since the 1980s and was an SEC also-ran as recently as two years ago. Pearl promised championships (plural) and already has delivered a regular-season title and a conference tournament title.

Still, this team doesn't yet feel any sense of accomplishment.

When Pearl huddled with his team Friday night and talked about needing three more wins to finish this season, nobody giggled. There was no side-eye. These players have been building for this, anticipating this kind of pressure-packed challenge, and there's nothing they'd rather do today than compete against Kentucky for a shot at the program's first Final Four.

That such a test comes against the bluest of the blue bloods just makes it that much sweeter for guys like Brown and Harper and most everyone else on this roster — guys who weren't recruited by bigger programs with bigger expectations.

Today is the day they can make Auburn one of those bigger programs with bigger expectations.

And they'll do it with a smile on their faces.

This is their dream. This is what they do.

Today is the day when the dream can become reality.

Preview: Duke vs Michigan State in Elite 8 of NCAA tournament - NCAA March Madness

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Here's a look at the top plays from Duke and Michigan State as they prepare to play in an Elite 8 matchup in the NCAA tournament.

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League sources strongly contradict Porzingis report: Knicks told Mavs of 'extortion,' but never used word 'rape' - Dallas News

Kristaps Porzingis reportedly called black woman 'my slave' as he beat, raped her - New York Post

Former Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis allegedly called a black woman a “slave” and a “b—h” as he beat and raped her, according to a report.

The 7-foot-3 athlete, who is white, is accused of referring to the woman as “my b—h” and “my slave,” adding that he owned her, during the alleged Feb. 7, 2018, sex assault in Porzingis’s Manhattan penthouse, according to TMZ.

The woman made the claim to cops, the Web site said.

Law-enforcement sources told The Post — which broke the story Saturday that the NYPD is investigating the rape allegation against the hoops star — that they could not immediately confirm that he used the vile language.

Hours after suffering a gruesome knee injury during a game, Porzingis, 23, allegedly punched and raped the 29-year-old woman inside the Midtown skyscraper where they both lived, sources told The Post.

Porzingis, who now plays for the Dallas Mavericks, has denied the allegations and said through his lawyer that the accuser tried to extort him.