Just when still-walking-on-air Illinois fans were sure the team’s Final Four opponent would be Duke, UConn staged an Elite Eight comeback Sunday that belongs on the short list of the greatest in NCAA Tournament history.
Facing the East Region’s No. 1 seed — not to mention everybody’s national player of the year, the Blue Devils’ Cameron Boozer — the No. 2-seeded Huskies clawed back from 17 points down in the second half and won it 73-72 after a steal by Silas Demary Jr. with 0:06 on the clock and a 35-foot three-pointer by freshman Braylon Mullins that splashed into the net with under half a second to go. It was their first lead since the game was 2-0.
That’s the steely-spined 33-5 opponent the 28-8 Illini will have to find a way to bull through Saturday (5:09 p.m., TBS, TNT, truTV) in Indianapolis if they’re going to reach the championship game for the first time since 2005 and win it all for the first time ever.
If the Illini are your team, you’ve probably seen enough of UConn to last you a while longer than this.
Who can forget the beating for the ages UConn gave Illinois in the Elite Eight just two years ago? Three words — “30-point run” — more than covers the carnage.
This season, the Illini lost to the Huskies 74-61 at Madison Square Garden the day after Thanksgiving. Illini veteran Kylan Boswell had 25 points and nine rebounds in that game, but freshman Keaton Wagler was overmatched and then-starter Andrej Stojakovic brought nothing to the table, either. Wagler and Stojakovic, who’ve been so good in this tournament, scored just three points each. Also, the Huskies had the rebounding edge (43-38) against the tallest team in the country.
“They’re very good,” coach Brad Underwood said after that game. “I hope we see them later down the road again, because I think they have an opportunity to make a very, very deep run.”
Good call, Coach. You nailed it.
Now, Underwood gets what he wished for — another crack at the Huskies and at coach Dan Hurley, owner of two national titles in the last three years and the attitude of someone who has won three or four times that many.
“We just believe we’re supposed to win this time of year,” Hurley said.
Illinois is in the Final Four for the sixth time, and the third since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975. Only Houston has more appearances (seven) without winning a title. Only Purdue has more tournament wins (53) than Illinois’ 50 among schools that haven’t won it all.
“I never doubted — and I don’t want to sound arrogant — I’ve never doubted us getting to a Final Four would happen,” Underwood said Saturday after beating Iowa. “I’ve thought we had other teams capable, but I also know how doggone hard it is to do it. For that I say, ‘Thank you. Thank you to everybody involved.’ ”
The Illini have been celebrating with Super Soaker fights in their locker room after tournament wins.
“You can never not celebrate winning,” Underwood said. “We work our asses off.”
To get past UConn, they’re going to have to play them off.
“I don’t want anybody to think that this is it,” Stojakovic said. “We didn’t get to the Final Four just to get there. We’re coming to win two more games.”
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