Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood is keenly aware of the challenges his team faces when up against UConn. His last encounters with the Huskies serve as stark reminders — and motivation.
Reflecting on past battles, Underwood recalls the November game where UConn led from start to finish, claiming a decisive 74-61 victory. The sting of their Elite Eight clash two years prior lingers as well, where UConn unleashed a staggering 30-0 run, ultimately securing a 77-52 win and marching towards their second consecutive national championship.
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While the past cannot be changed, the Fighting Illini are determined to alter the narrative when they meet UConn again this Saturday in their first Final Four appearance in over 20 years.
“I’ve always said, you just have to keep knocking on the door, and eventually, our opportunities will come,” Underwood remarked in Indianapolis, addressing the significance of their 2024 postseason defeat. “We learned a lot from that game. I believed that team had Final Four potential, but we faced a remarkable opponent in the Elite Eight, so we didn’t make it. But that experience taught us the toughness required and what it takes to succeed.”
Armed with these lessons, Underwood re-evaluated his strategy, steering the Fighting Illini (28-8) back to the Final Four for the first time since 2005. After nearly four decades in coaching, Underwood is savoring his inaugural appearance in the March Madness semifinals.
This journey is equally significant for Illinois, as they aim to overcome the formidable UConn (33-5) and advance past their national semifinals, a feat last achieved during their memorable 2005 runner-up campaign.
But this looks like a very different matchup than this season’s previous meeting with two more physical, more balanced and more experienced teams squaring off.
Huskies coach Dan Hurley has built his reputation on tough players eager to the dirty work and this group is more of the same.
Center Tarris Reed Jr. earned the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player award by scoring 21.7 points and grabbing 13.5 rebounds in tourney wins over Furman, UCLA, Michigan State and Duke- including 31 points and 27 rebounds in Round 1.
Huskies Forward Alex Karaban already holds school records for most games played (149), most wins (125), most starts (148) and most 3-pointers (288) and now needs two more tourney wins to push his March Madness career mark to 19-1. That would send him past Hurley’s brother, Bobby, for second all-time in NCAA tourney wins.
“Defense and rebounding, that’s really been our calling card,” Karaban said as he chases a rare third title. “Every time we’ve had success or won championships, that’s what our calling card has been.”
And, of course, UConn would not be playing at Lucas Oil Stadium without a remarkable 19-point rally and Brayton Mullins’ miraculous 35-foot, 3-pointer to beat top-seeded Duke 73-72 last Sunday. Mullins is now playing just 37 minutes away from his hometown – Greenfield, Indiana.
Hurley, too, is chasing milestones. He needs one victory for career win No. 350, two for his 200th win at UConn, giving him his third national title in four years and the Huskies their seventh crown since 1999.
Just don’t get fooled by what happened in November.
Mullins entered his college debut on a 10-minute restriction because of an early-season injury that forced him to miss UConn’s first six games. Now he’s playing in front of a home-state crowd that will include his family and perhaps a large contingent of local residents clad in UConn gear.
“I told him last night, I was like ‘Look, man, it’s time to get ready for Illinois,” Mullins’ father, Josh, told The Associated Press during Friday’s open practice at the 72,500-seat football stadium turned basketball arena. “Just enjoy the hell out of the time we have right here. It’s pretty awesome.”
Illinois is different, too. Guard Keaton Wagler, a second-team All-American, was just starting to emerge as a scoring threat in November. Today, he’s the Illini’s leading scorer (17.9 points) and the South Region MOP.
In November, forward Jake Davis was still coming off the bench and guard Andrej Stojakovic was still trying to find his groove. Davis now starts, Stojakovic’s big plays off the bench have played a key role in fueling Illinois’ tourney run and the 7-foot Ivisic twins, Tomislav and Zvonimir, have provided a needed physical presence.
The result: Indiana steamrolled its way through four tourney games, beating Penn, VCU, Houston and surprise Elite Eight participant Iowa all by double-digit margins. The second-seeded Cougars, who won a regional in Indy last year before losing in the title game, even were playing in Houston.
Now it’s time for Underwood & Co. to prove they have what it takes to contend with the always sturdy Huskies, with a chance to erase the bleak memories from the previous matchups by reaching the school’s second title game in front of what is expected to be a large contingent of orange-clad fans making the two-hour drive to Indy.
“I think from the game two years ago, it’s a clean slate,” Stojakovic said. “But we’re not really worried about that game. Obviously, we’ve gotten better (since November), had some guys return from injuries – both sides.”
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