KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Chuma Okeke could not sleep Saturday night.

For the first time since suffering a season-ending injury Friday in the Sweet 16, the pain was unbearable in his left knee. The pinging pain caused by the torn anterior cruciate ligament could not be subdued by pain medicine. Auburn’s star forward, whose season ended with 8:08 remaining in a 97-80 victory against North Carolina, believed he could not travel to the Elite Eight and support his teammates from the bench against Kentucky.

History was in the air Sunday. The program’s first trip to the Final Four was on the line, but his emotions were a mess and the pain was too much.

“He was so tired,” said his mother, Renee Okeke.

He didn’t attend the team’s breakfast Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He opted instead to sleep. He later sent a text message to his teammates to let them know he would not be at the Sprint Center to witness history.

“But then when the game came on and we started watching,” Renee Okeke said. “He said, ‘Mom, I have to go down there.’”

Chuma Okeke’s brother, Chuka, booked a ride to the arena via Uber. But there was the logistical issue of loading a wheel-chair bound, 6-foot-9 basketball player with a major knee injury into a car. So, the family called athletic trainer Clark Pearson, who acted quickly along the sideline in the Sprint Center. He turned to a police officer sitting on Auburn’s bench near the end of the first half and made a desperate request: can you pick up the Okeke family?

At halftime, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl told the team Chuma Okeke was on his way to support his brothers. The Tigers trailed Kentucky 35-30. Auburn’s emotions skyrocketed.

What was a quick decision and plea by a family in need turned into a scene out of a movie. A full-blown police escort delivered the Okeke family through a closed road in downtown Kansas City. They parked him as close as possible to the Sprint Center entrance. Bryce Brown, who scored 24 points and hit all of his six shot attempts in the second half, was the first to greet Chuma Okeke out of the tunnel.

“Knowing that he had to endure the pain to come and be with his brothers means a lot to us,” center Austin Wiley said. “We had to crank the nob up a little bit more.”

Auburn did that and so much more as Okeke was wheeled into the arena with 15:57 remaining. The Tigers had just capped a 12-2 run to grab a 42-39 lead. Auburn compliance director Rich McGlynn pushed the wheelchair, with Okeke’s left leg propped up in an elevated position. His mother and brother were to his right as they traversed the tunnel toward Auburn’s bench.

Chuma is in the building. pic.twitter.com/2fVjzWQfnH — Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) March 31, 2019

When they entered the arena during a Kentucky timeout, Auburn fans immediately began chanting “Chuma! Chuma!”

A cynical fan might say it was a moment orchestrated by a coach looking for an emotional edge at halftime. It was not. The decision to stay at the hotel was Chuma Okeke’s call and his alone. Bruce Pearl talked to him before the team left the hotel at 11:40 a.m., but Chuma Okeke repeated to him he was in too much pain to make the trip.

“We were more understanding than heartbroken because of how much pain he was in,” forward Anfernee McLemore said.

Chuma Okeke sat in the wheelchair behind the bench for the remainder of the second half. He cheered through the pain as it pulsated in his knee. He was there throughout the incredible overtime, when point guard Jared Harper scored 12 points on his way to being named the Midwest Regional’s MVP.

“It was history after that,” Renee Okeke said. “I’m sure he’s so happy to be here, and glad he didn’t miss it.”

Auburn won 77-71.

Reporters were not allowed to speak to Chuma Okeke after the game, but his wheelchair was as easy to spot as his infectious smile and the Midwest Regional trophy. “It feels great,” Chuma Okeke said as he wheeled past one reporter with the trophy in his lap, and orange-and-white confetti sticking to his large knee brace . Auburn players and coaches did what he couldn’t: they climbed a ladder to cut down the nets at the Sprint Center. McLemore dropped one of the nets around Chuma Okeke’s neck as a token of gratitude and love. He was also one of the first people to the hoist the regional championship trophy, the tangible proof Auburn knocked off college basketball's three winningest programs in succession — Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky — to reach the Final Four.

“This one was for Chuma!” Pearl declared to the Auburn fans in the arena. “The next two are for the Auburn!”

The Okeke family was brimming with pride after the game. A flight home awaited them at 6:30 p.m. Surgery on Chuma Okeke’s knee with Dr. James Andrews is scheduled for Tuesday, and a trip to Minneapolis for the Final Four appears impossible, but in the moment Sunday they were not worried about the next week or what the future holds.

“Winning today confirms that in the beginning I made the right decision with him to attend Auburn, because when we were considering Auburn everybody said it’s a football school,” Renee Okeke said. “But I said this before: Bruce Pearl had a vision. I told Chuma it would have more meaning to you being a part of doing something new than if you were to go to a school known for basketball: a Kansas, a Kentucky. It would mean more to come to Auburn and turn that program around.”

Chuma Okeke certainly played his part. He was named to the Midwest Region’s all-tournament team. He poured in 20 points and 11 rebounds in the victory against North Carolina before succumbing to the injury on a drive to the basket.

“We knew coming into the whole game this was all for Chuma,” said Harper, who finished with 26 points. “This win was all for Chuma. This whole question of going to the Final Four and trying to compete for a national championship: it’s all for Chuma. We know he puts so much on the line for us. He did a terrific job this year with all he did.”

Afterward, one of Auburn’s three scholarship seniors walked up to Okeke.

“I love you, boy,” forward Horace Spencer said. “I did it for you, man. Without you, we missed you. Without you, it was hard, but we’re going to pull through.”

Many discounted the idea Auburn could defeat Kentucky without Okeke, the man every player said is the Tigers’ best pro prospect. He’ll make a decision on whether to return to Auburn for his junior season or pursue the NBA over the next few weeks, his mother said, but until then it’s rest, recovery and cheering his teammates from afar against Virginia in the Final Four.

“We can beat any team,” said Spencer, “with or without Chuma.”