Reloaded Illinois has earned UConn’s respect as Huskies and Illini prepare to face off again

INDIANAPOLIS — The last time UConn and Illinois met in the NCAA Tournament yielded an historic run from a championship team, but also a turning point for the team on the receiving end of that outburst.

The Fighting Illini gave up the iconic 30-0 run that solidified the Huskies’ dominance that Saturday night in Boston en route to a successful national championship defense, but head coach Brad Underwood now looks back at that moment as the beginning of what he terms a reload rather than a rebuild over the past two seasons in Champaign.

“I don’t think we’ve rebuilt. I think we just reload,” he reiterated Thursday, two days before Illinois faces UConn again in the program’s first Final Four since battling North Carolina to the wire in a classic championship matchup in 2005. “It’s looked different. I’ve said all along: You just have to keep knocking on the door, and our opportunities were going to come.”

Illinois’ 77-52 loss to UConn in the East regional final two years ago may seem like a game where some coaches might be content with burning the tape before tipping their hats in concession. Not so for Underwood, who praised the experience of going through the pain of defeat for painting a more intricate picture of what it takes to advance further.

“We learned a lot from that game,” he said. “I thought that team was a Final Four team that just happened to play a damn good basketball team in the Elite 8, so we didn’t get there. But I think we grew from that from the standpoint of understanding how hard it is, what that looks like.”

“It’s hard to argue with what Danny has done throughout his time there and the consistency. That’s the one thing we’ve tried to match, the consistency, and not ever look at it as a rebuild, but just a reload.”

The method in which the Illini has refilled its chamber has not gone unnoticed in the opposing locker room, either. UConn’s elder statesman complimented the work Underwood has done in returning Illinois to the national stage, and knows he and his teammates will not have it easy inside Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night.

“They’re an elite program,” Alex Karaban said of Illinois. “You don’t (just) make the Elite 8, you’re there for a reason, and Coach Underwood’s done a great job there. They’ve just really established themselves as one of the best teams in the Big Ten, but nationally, too. They find talent, they do a great job of bringing in freshmen out of high school and really develop them throughout the years, but at the same time, find portal guys that fit in perfectly for them. So I have a lot of respect for Illinois, I really love what Coach Underwood does there, and it’s always exciting to play a well-respected program.”

UConn always carries a deep admiration for whomever it is matched up against, but head coach Dan Hurley expressed a strong appreciation Thursday for the parallels between his own career and that of Underwood’s, which started in the junior college ranks before taking him to the Big Ten. Hurley, who sent a tweet after the Huskies’ win over Illinois in November indicating he hoped to see the Illini again on this stage, elaborated on the respect factor.

“I’ve been a fan of Brad since his time at Stephen F. Austin,” Hurley shared. “(Thomas) Walkup, some of those great teams that made runs in the tournament. I just love the toughness his teams play with, I love their offensive design and the way that they play. He’s a coach’s coach, a JUCO guy the way old-school coaches used to build their career. I take a lot of pride in being a high school coach that had to work his way to here, and I kind of look at it the same with him.”

Illinois’ toughness has ramped up since the 74-61 UConn win at Madison Square Garden on November 28, one in which both teams fought injuries and the Huskies had Tarris Reed, Jr. and Braylon Mullins on minutes restrictions, with the latter making his season debut that afternoon. Therefore, not much can be truly gleaned on film, but the basic understanding of what lies ahead is something that UConn is prepared for.

“You take away concepts from that game,” Karaban advised. “You take away how physical they are, how badly they want to rebound, how elite they are rebounding. (Keaton) Wagler played 10 minutes and now he’s turned into an All-American candidate. (David) Mirkovic played like, 15 minutes. Offensively, they really have one through five out there, guys that could shoot. It’s a really tough team to play against. They present different challenges.”

Not only does Illinois represent another overly physical adversary for the Huskies Saturday, but there is also the mental hurdle of overcoming the high of Sunday’s regional final win over Duke and Mullins’ game-winning shot. Both he and Hurley acknowledged the moment and a need to move past it, one more bluntly than the other.

“You can’t live too long on the high of a moment,” Mullins admitted. “I think I just have to flip the page and focus on the next game. Illinois is just very impactful on the offensive end with their size, and they have really good players all the way around. We’ve gotta figure out how to limit them and just figure out how to play the hardest on the court.”

His coach mentioned the need to pull everyone back together two days later, diverting full focus on the primary objective.

“We came here for rings, not watches,” Hurley deadpanned. “Everyone that comes to the Final Four gets a beautiful watch, but only one group is gonna get a ring. So get off social media, stop injecting the dopamine into your arm, and get serious about the preparation and practice. We don’t hang banners for Final Fours at UConn, we hang national championship banners.”

“If you want to hang a banner, you gotta get your eyes off social media, get your face out of the phone and get locked in on Illinois. Illinois is one of the best teams in the country, and they’re as big a threat to winning this tournament as any of the four teams.”

Two iconic shots for one iconic program: Bob Heussler relives Tate George and shares perspective on Braylon Mullins

INDIANAPOLIS — If you are a dyed-in-the-wool Connecticut basketball fan, or just a connoisseur of sports history, it is perfectly natural either way for Braylon Mullins’ shot to beat Duke and send UConn to the Final Four this past Sunday to rekindle memories of March 22, 1990.

Husky supporters will never forget the latter date, as it was on that night in East Rutherford, New Jersey that Tate George sent the dream season to the doorstep of a Final Four, receiving a full-court pass from Scott Burrell and sinking a turnaround jumper to defeat Clemson at the buzzer and advance UConn to the Elite 8. Ironically, it was Duke who ended the Huskies’ hopes two days later, on a buzzer-beater of its own by Christian Laettner to vault the Blue Devils into the national semifinals before losing to UNLV in the championship.

Mullins’ shot exacted a measure of revenge for UConn, who erased a 19-point deficit Sunday to reach the Final Four for the eighth time in program history, and drew admiration from the man responsible for painting the word picture on George’s iconic shot 36 years ago.

Bob Heussler, who had the radio call of the George buzzer-beater for UConn, had a chance to watch the shot while calling a Brooklyn Nets game Sunday, and was gracious enough to share his memories of 1990 and offer perspective on the significance of Mullins’ heroics in comparison. Due to the breadth and wealth of information Heussler shared, my conversation with him will be transcribed, uncut, in a question and answer format to lead into coverage of UConn’s latest pursuit of a championship:

Jaden Daly: Bob, 36 years later, people still talk about Tate George and your iconic call of that shot to send UConn to the Elite 8 at the Meadowlands. Does it amaze you that it still gets this much play, this much love, this much traction so many years later and so many national championships later?

Bob Heussler: In a way, it does, because it’s been such a long time as you said. Thirty-six is pretty amazing. Thirty-six years, Jaden. That’s a lot of water over the bridge, as my good friend Chris Russo would say. But the fact is, first of all, you’re talking about UConn, rabid fan base and they have fans who are steeped in the program’s history. And that year, the dream season, was the season that kind of accelerated everything for UConn basketball. It had been, certainly, success before then, but now we’re talking about one of the elite programs, and that’s a defining moment in the ascent of the program. And it is an incredible moment.

We’ve had a lot of great shots and great endings, and we just saw one the other day for UConn. But that one, that stands the test of time because what they had done was the opposite of what happened the other day. The other day was Duke that blew the 19-point lead. That night against Clemson, it was UConn that had blown the 19-point lead in the dream season. This was not the script. You weren’t supposed to be blowing a 19-point lead against Clemson and not make it to, in this case, a regional final, but it appeared they had until a miracle. And it really was. It was a miracle. The pass was as miraculous as the shot, and you don’t forget those moments. Fan bases don’t forget it, so I guess, in a way, I’m not surprised that people still bring it up to me every March 22 to celebrate that anniversary.

JD: You were on the air, and you were pleasantly distracted when Braylon Mullins hit that shot, so you had something else going on in the moment. But what was your reaction when you finally did see the shot?

BH: Well, I actually did see it during one of our breaks. I was calling the game that the Nets had against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, and I happened to be working with Chris Carrino’s son, Chris Carrino, Jr., and he had his iPad. And we were tracking the score, because if my memory was right on this, we weren’t too far past a point in the broadcast — it might have been halftime — where we were giving scores, and of course, we were keeping an eye on that. And all of a sudden, we see that again on one of our monitors that UConn won the game, and we’re like, “WHOA!” And what I’m leading up to is Chris Carrino, Jr., being somebody who’s tech-savvy, immediately during a commercial break, I got to see it on a small screen and I’m like, “whoa.” I was like, incredulous.

So of course when I went home — I commute by train when I go to do games in Brooklyn — I got on the train and the first thing I did was I called it up and I watched it several times. I listened to Mike (Crispino)’s call, which was great, and got to relive another UConn March moment. It was really something, wasn’t it?

JD: It was. Now, the comparisons between 1990 and Sunday night, obviously prisoner of the moment in some aspects, but would you say they’re justified? Would you say one might be bigger than the other because this shot sent UConn to a Final Four, whereas in 1990, a team that hadn’t gotten that far in the tournament had a chance to play for one?

BH: Yeah, I wouldn’t go near that argument, only because you have two great moments. Which one is greater than the other? The Tate George shot, and the pass, you can never leave out the Scott Burrell pass as part of the equation. It’s something that is just so spectacular, that it definitely stands on that Mount Rushmore, to use that worn-out comparison. It stands the test of time and it stands well in any debate as to, okay, which play is bigger? But the argument can certainly be made, Jaden, that any shot like that — that gets you into the Final Four — well, that looms pretty darn large, but everything’s relative.

And in the moment we’re talking about: March 22, 1990, that’s as big a moment in UConn sports history, and this one is too. And this one gets them to a Final Four, but we’re talking about a program that has now won multiple national championships. So if it was getting you into your first Final Four, I think it takes on even more impact, but again, they’re both just great, great moments for a great, great program, and it’s fun to debate which is bigger if you want to go down that road. I never would. It was, the way I look at it is just, you look at both moments, both plays, both shots, and shake your head in awe and wonder, because they were both spectacular.

JD: Now when you finally did watch the highlight, were you surprised that (Alex) Karaban gave it up in that moment?

BH: Absolutely. That’s a very good call. The two things about both those shots, Tate George and Mullins: With Tate, without Scott Burrell, there’s no Tate George shot. The pass, the Scott Burrell pass, 94 feet on the button, is the key to the works. And of course, Tate has to do his job, and it lives forever as a result.

But Karaban? Oh my goodness! To have the presence of mind with, as it turns out, milliseconds left in the game, and to make that pass to the shooter? I mean, that’s just as spectacular a play as Burrell’s. Burrell’s is physical. There’s very few people who, right now, can do what Scott Burrell did that night, throw a basketball 94 feet on a line drive to its intended target. But from a basketball standpoint, a basketball play, what Karaban did is just as extraordinary. I was awestruck when I watched it again and again. I’m like, wow!

That’s why you love basketball. You see things like that happen, then of course, Mullins rewards Karaban by hitting — now — one of the most famous shots in NCAA Tournament history.

JD: Now, how well do you think a shot like that can propel UConn this weekend? Obviously, they’re facing an Illinois team that they played in the regular season at the end of November. Mullins actually made his debut in that game, which is another subplot, but how much do you think a moment like that can propel this team? Obviously, you’ve heard the whole team of destiny cliche so many times. Do you think that this shot might further that in a sense?

BH: That’s an easy one to answer, but I’m going to give you two approaches. Number one, I hope it does. I hope it does as a UConn fan. I hope it propels them, and I hope that we look back at this and say, “wow, they were a team of destiny.” But the other way of approaching it is, just look at what happened after the Tate George shot, what happened when they came up against — coincidentally — Duke with a chance to go to the Final Four. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Christian Laettner burns them with a shot at the buzzer, and it was like, wait a minute. How did this happen? It did, and UConn was denied a trip to the Final Four, they would have been going to Denver to play in their first-ever Final Four. It didn’t happen.

That was the dream season, Jaden, and everybody thought that it was going to keep right on going into the Final Four after what Burrell and Tate George did, but it didn’t work out that way. That game, actually, was in the hands of Tate George. If you look back at that sequence that allowed Laettner to inbound and then take it and get it back, and take the game-winning shot, if you look at the play leading up to it, Tate George had the steal in his hands. And he dropped the ball, falling over the sideline out of bounds, and Duke got it back. That would have ended it, and Tate George would have been a hero twice over.

But you know what? They played great. It was a tremendous season, one of the greatest seasons in the history of the program. It just ended a little short of where they wanted it to be. As I said, now you’re looking at a program that has won multiple national championships, and here’s (Dan) Hurley trying to do it, what, for the third time, right? Unbelievable. And hopefully, this does turn out to be a Hurley team of destiny. But I guess that’s my long way of saying no guarantees in sports or life, right?

This UConn Final Four run is particularly validating for Hurley and Karaban after last season’s disappointment

WASHINGTON — Two years ago this past weekend, with his UConn team steamrolling anything in its path en route to a second straight national championship, and fresh off a 30-0 run against Illinois to secure a return trip to the Final Four, Dan Hurley pulled back the veil on the road he and his staff took to get to that point.

Last season, with the Huskies having a perpetual target on their collective back as they chased history, the path meandered far more than anyone could have envisioned. Between injuries, a well-chronicled Hurley meltdown at the Maui Invitational, and a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to eventual national champion Florida, it was easy to see the frustration and disappointment that mounted up around the program.

Hurley hinted at that in the offseason, at the conclusion of his book, Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes to Be Great. In the book, Hurley admitted he was “completely cooked” by the pressure last season brought on in the pursuit of a third consecutive title, to the point where he considered taking a year off from coaching altogether. Ultimately, he decided to return to Storrs after rebuffing the Los Angeles Lakers a year prior, and shared that this particular campaign had been more refreshing even before Braylon Mullins’ iconic shot to defeat Duke in the East regional final.

“I give myself the grace,” Hurley said this past Saturday, before UConn sank the Blue Devils. “I just think this is what Geno (Auriemma) helped me a lot with…just get the most out of your team. I give the team the grace of, let’s just be the best that we could be with what we put together, have the best season we could possibly have and enjoy the journey with each team.”

“It’s taken a lot of pressure off. I think I’ve taken pressure off myself, but I think my team is looser and has played looser this year. I’m not as uptight and I’m not as big a monster, which is better for everyone except social media and the TV camera people who just keep their camera on me nonstop.”

One of Hurley’s closest confidants, despite only playing for him, yet having enough of a sense and bond with him to understand the coach’s psyche more intimately than most, concurred.

“I think he’s just having greater appreciation,” Alex Karaban said after the Duke win Sunday. “After going through last year, just realizing that we’re not entitled to anything just because we wear the UConn jersey, it doesn’t mean we’re gonna win. Both him and I were emotional after the game, super excited to be back (in the Final Four) and all the hard work paying off. I’m happy for him. Every wind you get in the storm, it gets better and better.”

Hurley agreed, finding a greater blessing in the experiences along the way while allowing some natural air to vent through his unbridled competitive drive.

“I think the biggest thing when you get to this time of year is when you coach a great team, or a team like this team that’s been a great, special team, you just start to love them,” he said from the heart. “As the year goes on, your admiration, your love for the group, the relationships you build, you just don’t want the year to end because you don’t want to not be around a group anymore. You just start savoring every video session, every practice, every shootaround, every flight, every bus ride, because the group just becomes such a special part of your heart.”

Tarris Reed’s legend grows with 26-point performance to send UConn to Final Four

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

WASHINGTON — It has become somewhat of a bit between Dan Hurley, Tarris Reed, Jr., and the UConn fanbase to refer to the big man as different types of bears based on how he plays.

Hurley famously implored the fanbase to send Reed pictures of Kodiak bears last season, looking to inspire a level of play and spirit only rivaled by that of the vicious beast.

This NCAA Tournament has brought out the best in Reed, and he capped it off Sunday night with another masterpiece, amassing 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists to pace the Huskies. He kept UConn within reason during the first half, when nothing else was going the team’s way, and was a steady presence throughout the comeback in the second.

Braylon Mullins’ ridiculous game-winning three-pointer stole the headlines, but it doesn’t happen without Reed’s day. And the Huskies aren’t in position to play the game that ended with a 73-72 win over top-seeded Duke if not for Reed’s performances in the previous three games as well.

“It could be my last college basketball game,” Reed said. “And they were just like, ‘go for it all.’ Coach told us before the game, ‘you've got to swing for the fences, go as hard as you can.’”

And on a hope and a prayer, Reed’s 134th college basketball game, played across four years between two at Michigan and two at UConn, will not be his last. He earned the right to lace up the sneakers and put on the Husky uniform one more time, when UConn takes on Illinois in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis.

In the opening minutes of the game, Reed was the one who got the UConn offense going. He backed down Maliq Brown on the first possession of the game, drawing a quick foul and getting to the line. When Duke scored seven points in a row, Reed calmed the Huskies down by getting to his right-hand hook shot.

Reed showed off how deep his post-scoring bag is. His footwork and spin moves, which have given him greater post versatility this season, continued to create opportunities for the Huskies. Regardless of whether Duke put Brown, Cameron Boozer, or Patrick Ngongba on him, if UConn found a way to get Reed the ball in the post, he would find a way to score. He was the only one who did for much of the first half, scoring 12 of UConn’s first 16 points after receiving a pass on a cut, and cut the Duke lead to six points at the second media timeout.

It’s been like this all tournament long. Reed had 31 points and 27 rebounds in the opener against Furman, and another double-double against UCLA in the second round. He dominated Michigan State’s vaunted frontcourt duo of Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper with 20 points, also dishing out four assists.

But UConn’s defense demanded changes late in the first half, as doubling Boozer kept leading to open Duke threes. So Dan Hurley put Reed on Boozer, and he picked up his second foul. He sat much of the last 5:27 of the half.

The Huskies didn’t lay down and die, but needed Reed back in the game. And he delivered when he returned. He kept destroying one-on-ones and got multiple layups and dunks off of slips, but it alone wouldn’t be enough to bring the Huskies back.

They needed more. And when Duke started sending doubles, it came.

“Being able to take my time and see the whole floor,” Reed said. “Knowing I had a high production in the first half, knowing they were going to collapse on me in the post, and like I said, trust my shooters and trust the guys around me. Eventually, guys were going to knock down shots.”

And they did. Reed dished to a cutting Alex Karaban off the double for his first points of the game, then hit Silas Demary, Jr. on the weak side to break the seal for the first three of the second half, cutting Duke’s lead to seven with seven minutes to play.

But Reed’s two biggest plays came on the defensive end. He turned Duke over with a steal, deflecting a pass with about 12 minutes left, a run-out to cut the lead to ten. Then, with a minute left, down by four, he changed the math again.

One-on-one with Boozer at the top of the key, and the Blue Devils trying to run their patented 4-2 ball screen that won them games against Florida, St. John’s, and others throughout the year, Reed didn’t bite. He fought through the screen and poked the ball free from Boozer’s hands, setting up Karaban’s huge three to cut the lead to one.

“I think maybe just a guy like Tarris Reed just elevating his game for this tournament and changing his legacy,” Hurley said. “Changing his trajectory put himself, I think, in position now to walk away from this tournament. It looks like he's playing himself into the first round (of the NBA Draft).”

Boozer and Reed each had big games, but it was Reed coming out on top. And it was Reed standing front and center on the podium, leading the Huskies team in saluting its band and fans, chanting “Welcome to the Doghouse.”

The doghouse is going to the Final Four. With two more chances to build an immortal legacy.

BRAY OF HOPE: Mullins’ game-winner caps all-time comeback as UConn clips Duke to return to Final Four

WASHINGTON — At just 19 years old, Braylon Mullins is still too young to drink alcohol legally.

When that time does come, however, whatever his preferred beverage may be will almost assuredly be free of charge in the state of Connecticut.

Mullins’ 35-foot 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second remaining in regulation Sunday completed an all-time comeback for UConn, who erased a 19-point deficit to steal the last Final Four berth from No. 1 overall seed Duke, putting the exclamation point on a 73-72 victory.

“This is in its own category,” the freshman proclaimed after the Huskies (33-5) booked their eighth Final Four trip by slowly chipping away at Duke’s massive lead in the second half, drawing within single digits for good with six minutes to play and not relenting even as the Blue Devils answered every potential UConn rally. “It’s the whole category.”

Mullins was the beneficiary of a broken play in the final ten seconds of regulation. After Silas Demary, Jr. split a pair of free throws, he atoned for the letdown by deflecting a Cayden Boozer pass. Demary found Alex Karaban, who passed up a shot that would have etched his name deeper into the annals of UConn history, dishing to Mullins for the coup de grâce.

“We were trying to force a turnover and foil their worst free throw shooter,” Mullins said of his vantage point of a sequence that will live in March lore forever. “The ball got tipped and I threw the ball to AK. I thought AK was gonna shoot the ball, he had just hit one, and he threw the ball back to me.”

“I saw Braylon and I saw we had like, five seconds left,” Karaban added with regard to his own angle of the play. “I thought I could have shot it, but then I saw (Cameron) Boozer right in front of me, and I think Dame Sarr, too. So I pitched it to Braylon.”

For UConn to even be in that position after the first half it endured borders on miraculous. The Huskies missed 17 of their first 18 attempts from long distance, and were unable to stop Duke’s length and athleticism in an opening stanza that saw the Blue Devils open up a 40-21 cushion with 5:01 to play before halftime. UConn was able to string together enough stops to get within 15 at the interlude, but the belief in one another was unwavering.

“In the huddles, we were just saying, ‘war after war,’” Demary recalled. “Let’s try to win each war by three. And I think we did that. We did what we needed to do. We said we needed to rebound and defend at halftime, and I feel like we came out there. I think (Duke) only scored 28 points in the second half, so to be able to defend like that and have each other’s back, it was just big. Through every timeout, we were telling each other to stay together, (to) be even more connected.”

Still, it seemed as though the momentum did not truly begin to swing until the 3:42 mark, when Solo Ball stripped Isaiah Evans and turned the giveaway into a three-point play that pared the UConn deficit to 67-65, a moment the junior guard attributed to the resilience of his group.

“We had to crawl back from 19 down and be able to beat the best team in the whole thing,” Ball said. “We know what we’re capable of, too. We had that belief that we’re the best team, so we had to be able to fight tonight.”

Duke would pad its lead to four points inside the final minute before Karaban, staring down the potential conclusion to an all-time great UConn career, knocked down a deep triple to bring the Huskies back within one. A Cameron Boozer jumper, where a potential traveling violation was not called, got the Blue Devil cushion back to three points before Demary was fouled with ten seconds left. Missing the first free throw, but making the second, it kept the door open before he kicked it down by getting a hand on Cayden Boozer’s outlet pass.

“If I run up, I gotta make a play, because I know there’s at least one or two guys behind me,” Demary said of his instincts in the moment. “I just jumped in, deflected it, and then guys were able to get the ball. And then Braylon, with the confidence he had, took that big-time shot and hit it.”

With another all-time March moment firmly in tow, UConn will now go to Indianapolis to face Illinois in the first of two national semifinals on Saturday. And for Mullins, an Indiana native who grew up 30 minutes east of Lucas Oil Stadium in Greenfield, one shining moment now affords him the chance to return home a conquering hero.

“Man, you play for those moments,” he gushed. “You dream about that, you definitely had that in your childhood. So that’s a one-of-a-kind experience.”

2025-26 MBWA awards ballot: More love for locals after more widespread success

With the New York metropolitan area college basketball season officially in the books following St. John’s loss to Duke in the NCAA Tournament, the time has now come to recognize the best of the best among New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

For the 93rd time, the Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association will do just that, paying homage to the stars of the area on April 23 at its annual awards dinner, again celebrated at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel and Conference Center in Tarrytown. This year’s gala promises to be more diverse among its honorees, as multiple local teams participated in the postseason this year. I was privileged to have cast a vote in deciding the awards for a 14th consecutive season, and as I always do in this space every year, will share my ballot here for transparency.

Here goes:

Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award: Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s

16.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.1 BPG, 1.1 SPG, 54% FG, 72% FT, 31% 3-pt FG

As close to a sure thing as there was in basketball this season, Ejiofor did whatever St. John’s needed him to do, and then some. The senior forward was the Big East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as the Red Storm repeated its Big East regular season and tournament championship double, and endeared himself to fans of the Johnnies by playing a workmanlike style that proved to be a perfect marriage for Rick Pitino’s system the past three years. Ejiofor will be the second straight St. John’s player to be named the area’s best, and should be crowned unanimously at that, because no one else was his equal at any point this season.

Also considered: Cruz Davis, Hofstra; Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s

Rest of All-Met first team, in alphabetical order:

Budd Clark, Seton Hall

Cruz Davis, Hofstra

Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s

Dillon Mitchell, St. John’s

Erik Pratt, Stony Brook

All-Met second team, in alphabetical order:

CJ Anthony, Iona

Preston Edmead, Hofstra

Tariq Francis, Rutgers

Jamal Fuller, LIU

Dejour Reaves, Fordham

All-Met third team, in alphabetical order:

Brandon Benjamin, Fairfield

Brent Bland, Saint Peter’s

Anquan Hill, Sacred Heart

Kenny Noland, Columbia

Braden Sparks, Fairfield

Rookie of the Year: Preston Edmead, Hofstra

16.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.4 APG, 40% FG, 83% FT, 39% 3-pt FG

Speedy Claxton’s unmatched ability to develop guards into stars manifested again on Long Island this season, taking Edmead and turning him into a multi-level scorer who raises his game in the biggest moments. If not for the Deer Park native, Hofstra may not have ended its 25-year NCAA Tournament drought, as his game-winning three in overtime of the CAA tournament semifinals got the Pride to the doorstep before a second straight MVP performance enabled March Madness to visit Nassau County. Edmead has expressed a desire to stay at Hofstra for his sophomore season, a promising sign in light of the transfer portal and a boon to the Pride’s repeat chances.

Also considered: Brandon Benjamin, Fairfield; David Bolden, NJIT

Lou Carnesecca Coach of the Year: Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall

With all due respect to Rick Pitino, who will assuredly receive some votes here for getting St. John’s to its first Sweet 16 since 1999, we knew the Red Storm would be a contender and a factor in March. Hardly anyone expected Holloway to completely turn the page from last season’s 7-25 aberration at Seton Hall and win 21 games at his alma mater one year later. Despite a smaller NIL budget compared to their Big East brethren, the Pirates embodied their leader on and off the floor, using the double-figure rotation Holloway honed at Saint Peter’s to perfection while Budd Clark became an extension of him at the point guard spot. Seton Hall should have more continuity going into next season, which will undoubtedly make Holloway’s job easier as he looks to return the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.

Also considered: Speedy Claxton, Hofstra; Bashir Mason, Saint Peter’s

For St. John’s, this Sweet 16 trip is not so much a miracle as it has become the standard

WASHINGTON — No one had to tell St. John’s fans how to act Friday night.

Whether inside the stands at Capital One Arena, where red outnumbered blue and blue-collar outweighed blue blood, or anywhere else they were situated, backers of the Johnnies knew what was on the line. And they responded accordingly.

If you were an uninformed observer Friday, there would be no way to know that St. John’s was making its first appearance in a regional semifinal since 1999. No way to know that the Duke team that was life and death to beat the Red Storm in the nation’s capital was the top-ranked team in the nation entering the NCAA Tournament. No way to know that Ruben Prey was merely a sophomore backup forward while looking like Robert Horry in an NBA postseason game.

For this has become the new status quo on the corner of Union and Utopia. No longer are the Johnnies merely thrilled to be in attendance on flagpole nights in college basketball such as these. This program expects to own the stage, and it did once again on Friday, even in a gallant effort that came up five points short.

Cannon fodder, as it was for a majority of this century before the adults entered the room and took command, St. John’s is not. Gunpowder, it is. And when sparked at just the right time, the explosion may seem startling to those unfamiliar, yet eerily comforting to those accustomed to its steady crackle.

Rick Pitino would have that no other way.

Pitino may be less than six months away from turning 74, yet he still operates and comports himself with the vivaciousness and impact of a fuse half his age. And when he was brought down the New England Thruway to take on the challenge of restoring the once-proud St. John’s program, the long-dormant keg that felt for far too long like a black hole in eastern Queens was reignited. And if Pitino was the spark that rekindled the flame, Zuby Ejiofor was the ensuing inferno.

Very few players stay in one place more than a year anymore, a byproduct of player empowerment and the lure of big money that turns into greed. Even fewer remain for three years the way Ejiofor did. It was easy for St. John’s fans to attach themselves to the Kansas transfer. He gave all of himself for them, they gave all of themselves to him, starting after a pair of missed free throws last season that cost the Johnnies a double-overtime win over Baylor in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship. That moment was singlehandedly responsible for a new tradition at a place that made its name on them.

“ZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUB!”

Much like Mike Mussina had the Moose call at Yankee Stadium, Ejiofor had the Zub call for the past two seasons. And each time the call was made thereafter, it grew louder, more boisterous, more resonant. It grew in lockstep with the renaissance of St. John’s as a card-carrying elitist and not a nouveau riche gate-crasher. So when he could barely compose himself in Friday’s postgame press conference, it was understandable to see the emotional outpouring of someone who emptied his own cup more than anyone should ever deserve.

Emotion is what makes sports so gripping. And St. John’s fans are by no means lacking in that department. To understand the passion is a task that cannot be fully explained to an outsider, nor can it be fully understood when window shopping. It is something the roots of fan support are always constructed upon. Therefore, Friday night, while factually representing the end of an era, must also be viewed as the beginning of a new phase.

Pitino will reload. That much is certain. As long as he is the coach at St. John’s, and as long as Mike Repole bankrolls the dream of an insatiable community, the Red Storm is not going anywhere. Losing Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins and Dillon Mitchell seems like a lot at first blush, but does anyone doubt the ability of a hall of fame architect to reconstruct a masterpiece?

In the words of Steve Masiello, anyone who doubts Pitino should have his or her head examined.

Pitino has always loved a challenge, and steadfastly refuses to back down from one. Maybe that is the most powerful example of why, in this present state of the game, he still loves it so much when so many of his contemporaries are using the climate of the sport as an excuse to ride off into the sunset.

The Johnnies will return. Their fans, who never went away even during the lean years and made sure to announce their arrival in every possible fashion no matter the record or the size of the gun barrel in their collective face, will as well. And at the end of the day, regardless of your affinity or whatever lines of demarcation are drawn in the heat of battle and tribalism, this much remains true:

When St. John’s is good, business is good.

And right now, business is only getting better.

Can UConn shock the world again? Huskies prepare to face Duke on anniversary of first title win

WASHINGTON — The most devout of Connecticut basketball fans undoubtedly still have Jim Nantz’s final call on the night of March 29, 1999 committed to memory.

“Pressure from Jones…Langdon trips, and UConn has done it! El-Amin comes over and says, ‘we shocked the world!’ Folks, you gotta believe, because just when people say you can’t, you can, and UConn has won the national championship in its first attempt in the final!”

UConn defeated Duke on that unforgettable Florida night inside what is now Tropicana Field, establishing itself as a college basketball power with its first national championship and solidifying 77-74 as a set of numbers Husky fans still reference with pride and passion over a quarter-century later. Now, 27 years to the day that Jim Calhoun’s all-time program build was punctuated, UConn and Duke will meet again, this time with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Sunday’s East regional final will be just the tenth time in which the Huskies and Blue Devils have lined up opposite from one another. Duke holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series, and has not lost in the series since April 3, 2004. However, it is UConn who holds arguably the two biggest victories, the aforementioned national championship game and the Final Four triumph in San Antonio that led to a second title.

Things have changed considerably for both programs since the last time they faced off in 2014. UConn now has six championships, one more than Duke. UConn is seeking a third title in four seasons, Duke’s last net-cutting in April took place four months after defeating the Huskies in the Meadowlands, a drought that now spans 11 years. But much like the fateful 1999 encounter whose anniversary will be celebrated Sunday, Duke will be a considerable favorite, leaving UConn to channel its inner Khalid El-Amin in order to book a flight to Indianapolis.

One person close to both Husky teams then and now believes history can repeat itself.

“I love this group,” Tom Moore, the former UConn assistant coach turned general manager, said Friday after the Huskies defeated Michigan State in the Sweet 16 to set up the renewal of the rivalry with the Blue Devils. “I love how this group feels about themselves right now and the belief they have.”

Moore also sees a lot of the 1999 team in this iteration of the Huskies, drawing similar parallels between a regional final loss to North Carolina the year before and this UConn team’s resurgence as seniors Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed, Jr. begin the final hours of their collegiate careers.

“The mindset going in was we were, almost like Khalid said, we’re gonna shock the world,” Moore said of UConn’s first championship team. “They were a resilient, tough group, and they’d been sort of gunning for that game since the year before, when we lost to Carolina in ’98, in the Elite 8, I think they felt it was their destiny to get there in ’99. (A) very determined group, but very similar to this group…tough, really tough, really determined.”

“That team, I think was down at halftime in ten games that year, and I think they might have won all of them. This team has been maybe more consistent throughout the season.”

The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament this year much like it was in 1999, Duke will enter Sunday’s game the likely favorite, even if not by as wide a margin as was the case then. Moore recalled the lack of faith among the public in the Huskies, but dispelled a similar notion with regard to this group, highlighting the desire of Karaban and Reed to end their careers on the highest of highs.

“It’s starting to feel that way,” Moore said when asked if he felt a sense of the undeniable among the two all-Big East seniors. “I can see it in little ways in both of them. They’re definitely more vocal in the locker rooms…pregame, halftime, postgame, coming in and out of huddles. The two of them are getting more and more vocal.”

“I think they think about it. It starts to hit home once you get to this tournament. After the Big East tournament, you get to this, it starts to hit home.”

Duke has been tested twice in its tournament experience this month, first by Siena as the Saints looked to become just the third 16 seed to defeat a No. 1, and most recently by St. John’s in Friday’s regional semifinal. Moore, while not on the sidelines like he once was, offered his scouting report and analysis, highlighting what needs to break the right ways for the Huskies to slay the dragon.

“I just think we have to play our regular game,” he said. “If we shoot the ball well, hold up on the backboard and we limit turnovers like we’ve been doing recently, I think we can beat anyone in the country if we shoot the ball well from three.”

Karaban was 17 months old the last time UConn defeated Duke. He has never played the Blue Devils, but as a student of the game, is fully aware of what a win on this stage, against this opponent, would symbolize.

“It would mean everything to me,” Karaban said. “We’re not gonna make it any bigger because we’re playing Duke, but it’s really just whatever we’ve gotta do to win the game to advance to the Final Four. That’s the reason why I came back. The reason why I came back is to win.”

UConn’s seniors embody spirit of March with suppression of Spartans in Sweet 16

WASHINGTON — March’s most iconic moments come when those who have been on its dance floor previously know that their time is drawing to a close. Consciously, they raise their game under the brightest of lights, not wanting to be denied in their final attempt to hold a piece of forever in their arms.

The University of Connecticut has five seniors on its roster, two of whom are most integral to its success. One of those seniors has won two national championships, and even if his stoicism and professionalism masks it, is perhaps the hungriest among his teammates to hoist a third trophy before his time is up. The second, also a quiet leader, has never had the chance.

Both stepped up most when UConn needed them to Friday.

Alex Karaban started the scoring for the Huskies against Michigan State, knocking down a three in the opening minutes before UConn eventually put the Spartans in a 25-6 hole. Tom Izzo’s team would eventually dig out of it and take the lead, but then it was Tarris Reed, Jr. who responded.

Reed’s go-ahead basket put UConn in front for good with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation, and the center’s free throws in the final minute preserved a 67-63 win to send the Huskies to the East regional final.

“We don’t want this to end,” Reed declared after he led UConn (32-5) with 20 points, including four crucial free throws to keep the Huskies ahead of Michigan State. “Every game is an elimination game for us, and I definitely want to go to that Final Four. I’ve never experienced a Final Four in my life, so we just don’t want it to end. We want to keep this team together as long as we can.”

That togetherness was the major rallying point even after Michigan State forced its way back into the game with its trademark toughness and physical defense, something Alex Karaban made sure to remind his teammates of as the Spartans threatened to end the season for the last Big East team standing in the NCAA Tournament.

“We knew that they were going to respond,” he said. “We knew that they wouldn’t give up. They’ve had guys stay loyal to their program as well and really have so much pride when they wear the Spartan uniforms, so we knew that they would respond. It’s just, are we gonna respond and are we gonna stay true to our culture?”

The answer was a resounding yes, affirmatively decided by both of the Huskies’ veterans.

Immediately after Reed put UConn back in front by a 48-47 margin, Karaban extended the lead 26 seconds later on his second 3-pointer of the night. Michigan State would draw close several times after that, but was unable to seize momentum back as the Husky veterans put the game on their shoulders.

“That’s what this time of year is all about,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “You gotta have great upperclassmen. You have to have great juniors, great seniors, veteran players that are not gonna blink and just can handle the pressure of the moment, and also can bounce back.”

“I think to start the second half, Tarris had some opportunities that he left on the table, and AK was able to make that in-game adjustment. My message to him is, if you’re gonna go out in this tournament, you gotta go out on your shield. You gotta go out firing, or you’re gonna have a lot of regrets.”

The Spartans had one last chance to extend the game in the final seconds, but Carson Cooper’s missed free throw that would have cut UConn’s lead to one was rebounded by Reed, who had drained two free throws after Jeremy Fears’ three answered a Karaban triple and returned the Huskies’ margin to one point. A shaky free throw shooter during the regular season, the Michigan transfer credited the confidence instilled in him by his own work, and also by his coaches and teammates, for affording him the belief in himself to make his last two to seal the game.

“I feel like I put in the work,” Reed reflected. “The guys around me were like, ‘T, trust. You put in the work every day and we see you at the free throw line.’ So I took a deep breath and took my time at the line.”

UConn now advances to play Duke in Sunday’s Elite 8, adding another layer of history to an all-time rivalry with the Blue Devils. While he acknowledged the meaning and significance of a win, Karaban deflected from addressing the desire to keep his own career alive, focusing on keeping his team together as long as possible. But the presence of both he and Reed has lit a fire under the rest of the team, who feels as if there is more to play for besides one another.

“You can tell he’s so passionate about it,” Braylon Mullins said of Karaban’s last quest for championship glory. “He knows he doesn’t want to go out like he did last year, so you just have that feeling of not wanting to let a brother down. If you’re not going to play for yourself, just play for the seniors around you. Any time could be the last time they put the jersey on.”

This time, the only certainty was that there would be a next time.

UConn gets rematch with Michigan State in Sweet 16, but Huskies and Spartans are two different teams since October exhibition

WASHINGTON — It is not uncommon for teams to see previous opponents again in the NCAA Tournament, even though the familiarity is usually confined to the name on the schedule since both teams are mostly retooled since their last meeting with one another.

This weekend, UConn could potentially have two such rematches as it seeks its eighth Final Four appearance in program history, which would require two wins — one on Friday, the other on Sunday — to get there. The first hurdle standing in the way of the Huskies is a team that Dan Hurley faced in the second of two exhibitions this season.

Technically, UConn’s 76-69 win over Michigan State on October 28 does not count among the record books, but there is still a lot to be gained from that Tuesday evening in Hartford. Alex Karaban and Solo Ball led the Huskies with 18 points each, and in an apparent foreboding of his resurgent month of March, Jayden Ross added 13 points off the bench. But like most of his teammates, Ross knew to place more stock in the Spartans, who won the East regional the last time it was held in the nation’s capital, in 2019, and are their usual formidable adversary once again.

“They’re a really good team, as we’ve seen throughout the year,” Ross said after UConn dispatched UCLA last Sunday to set up the showdown with a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo. “They’ve got a really great front and backcourt, pretty good depth, they’ve got freshmen playing like they’re sophomores (and) juniors, so it’s gonna be a great task for us.”

“We played them earlier in the year, but they’ve grown since then,” Silas Demary, Jr. added. “They play well in transition, they get a lot of stops. They’ve got a great point guard in Jeremy Fears, and I think him and Coen Carr have a great connection when they get out on the break, throwing a lot of lobs. They play two bigs with Jaxon Kohler and (Carson) Cooper, big team, they defend well. I think they do a lot of good things. They’ve found their footing, so we just gotta get ready to get to the film and figure out what we can do to stop them.”

While Michigan State has grown in the past five months, so too has UConn. In fact, the Huskies may have the two biggest variables since the October exhibition battle, as they defeated the Spartans then without the services of Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed, Jr., both of whom were nursing injuries at the time. Each is back, and between Mullins’ apparent restoration of confidence in his outside shot, plus Reed’s 41 points and 40 rebounds in UConn’s first two tournament games last weekend, the two make the No. 2 seed an even tougher out than usual.

“I think it just poses us as a threat,” Demary said of having Mullins and Reed available. “I think when we bring back two of our better guys, and like how Tarris is playing now, he’s playing with the utmost confidence, and Braylon getting his confidence back shooting the ball, I think that just poses two more guys that they have to worry about.”

Even though he missed the exhibition, Reed has notable experience playing against Michigan State from his time at Michigan before transferring. Adding to the subplot is Izzo’s recruitment of the 6-foot-11 center in the transfer portal before Reed ultimately chose UConn, but the big bear focused on big business first and foremost.

“I’m gonna do what the game calls me to do,” Reed said of his matchup, where he will most likely draw Jaxon Kohler or Carson Cooper for a majority of the contest. “Cooper and Kohler, and then (Coen) Carr, they all crash the glass. They’re aggressive. They play physical, they play tough, so I feel like it’s gonna be a dog fight, gonna be a war, and I feel like we gotta set the tone and match their energy. They’re gonna come out hot, they’re gonna have to match our energy, we’re gonna have to match theirs.”

The need to stay focused and move forward was already instilled by the Huskies’ locker room leader, one that has shared this dance times before and credits his teammates’ resolve for bringing UConn back to this moment.

“I think this team’s in a good spot where we have great energy right now,” Alex Karaban said. “We’re super excited heading to the Sweet 16 against a really good Michigan State team, and the vibes are high. I just want the guys to enjoy this and really be proud of all the work that we’ve put in so far, not be complacent yet, and just keep moving forward.”

“Having the injuries that we had earlier in the season made sure everyone had to step up. I think it was a lot of learning opportunities too, knowing that we were missing some guys and other guys had to step up and really just instill confidence in themselves. Having (Mullins and Reed) back is incredible, and how much we’ve grown now that we’re fully healthy, we’ve been really just growing as a team and getting better from where we were in October.”

Was Braylon Mullins’ performance Sunday a timely breakthrough? Huskies hope so heading into Sweet 16

WASHINGTON — The sound of a basketball swishing through a net is always a relief. Sometime around 10 p.m. Sunday night, it may have been the sweetest sound Braylon Mullins had heard in quite some time.

UConn’s sharpshooting freshman had been in the midst of a 6-for-45 slump from three-point range in his last six-plus games before his triple with 2:49 to play in the first half fell for the Huskies, who went on to defeat UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Mullins drained a second for good measure almost two minutes later, a sign that the most lethal part of his game may have finally been fixed, and at the most opportune time.

More importantly, the ball going through the hoop was a reaffirmation of faith for a player who had never lost it, but acknowledged his reliance on other parts of his craft to help his team win.

“It just gave me a little bit more confidence knowing that I saw one go in,” Mullins remarked Sunday. “It kind of just gave us a little momentum, a little bit of a run, especially for myself. I’m just happy to see them go in, I don’t even care. I’m gonna shoot them when I’m open.”

Mullins admitted the green light head coach Dan Hurley has given him has enabled his confidence to stay at its peak, something that tends to fade when shooters go into a valley of a dry spell the way he did since UConn’s February 25 win over St. John’s. The trust placed in him not only by his coach, but also his teammates, has been a strong motivator during an uncharacteristic off stretch like the one he seems to have just emerged from.

“Having Coach believe in me, it gives me confidence within myself and I’m so grateful for that,” Mullins said. “I know everybody here trusts me, and I trust them with everything as well. So I’m gonna shoot it, and if (Hurley’s) going to run a set for me, and I see something open, I’m gonna shoot it.”

“The last thing anyone should worry about (with) that kid is whether he’s gonna make distant shots,” Hurley echoed. “This guy is a brilliant shooter and I think it was great for him to see a couple go in like that. You’ve got all these draft picks and these different people that are evaluating NBA prospects, and there are a lot of questions about Steph Castle,  there are a lot of questions about Donovan Clingan because those guys played on balanced teams. And Braylon plays on a balanced team, which is gonna bode well for him when he decides to go to the NBA, whenever that is.”

While Mullins rode out the inconsistency from beyond the 3-point line, something he improved in the process was his shot inside the arc. According to Bart Torvik, Mullins’ .614 field goal percentage on non-rim 2-point field goals is second-best in Division I. The ability to adapt and create for himself in other ways to offset a lack of his calling card not working is something center Tarris Reed, Jr. attributes to the calmness his rookie teammate plays with under pressure.

“He’s one of the most poised freshmen I’ve been around,” Reed said of Mullins. “He’s just so poised when it comes to this. I mean, March Madness, to do what they’re doing in this tournament for the first time, it shows you the courage that these guys have, especially Braylon. That guy, he’s special.”

UConn fans, and Mullins’ teammates, are hoping that the reversal of fortune on Sunday is a harbinger of things to come when the Huskies face Michigan State Friday in the East regional semifinals. If last Friday was a correction of the law of averages, this next one could simply be a reminder of what happens when things click the way they should.

“We’ve been telling him throughout this entire week, ‘just continue to believe in yourself, continue to believe,’” Alex Karaban said of his and the team’s effort to pick Mullins up. “You’re too good of a shooter. With him and Solo (Ball), every time they shoot it, it looks like it’s going in. They’re unbelievable players, and you knew a time would happen where the shots would start falling.”

“I see him shoot every day,” Silas Demary, Jr. added. “After practice, before practice, so we’re just keeping him confident and telling him, ‘just let it fly.’ He’s one of the best freshmen in the country, I believe, so he’s gotta keep his confidence high and keep letting them fly.”

FDU’s effort against Iowa was one even the most hardened of hearts could not help but love

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

In this business, impartiality is a must.

The temptation comes, however, to have a favorite or rooting interest. Closely follow a team a number of times and it can happen. We are human.

Case in point, FDU.

In the summer, I began attending some of the Knights’ women’s basketball practices, simply to learn and increase my basketball knowledge. Being around the game well over five decades, you realize learning never stops.

At any rate, the practices were like coaching clinics, and they gave me a chance to get to know the coaches and players better. Still maintaining impartiality during the season, I covered a number of FDU’s games.

No cheering in the press box (in this case courtside), the old adage says.

Out of all FDU games I covered in person, the Knights lost only one, in late December to Binghamton. My approach and demeanor was the same during and after the contests: Analyze, report and write from an objective viewpoint.

Covering the NEC championship win over LIU was exciting. The final of a tournament, especially in March, is always a special event. As the Knights cut down the nets, my impartiality lessened a bit, being happy for FDU getting the title, knowing and seeing firsthand the work the coaches and team accomplished on a daily basis.

On Saturday, 15th-seed FDU faced second seed Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This time, I was not on press row. Rather, I was home with a pad charting shots and making notes, and an opportunity to forget impartiality and root for the Knights.

The unseasonably warm day saw Iowa jump out to a 15-point first-period lead. Teams make runs, and you could tell from their body language and the way they ran their sets on offense and how they defended, the Knights were not intimidated. They answered with their own run and trailed by three following the first period.

In the second period, FDU coach Stephanie Gaitley’s signature defense dug in, holding the Hawkeyes to three field goals and seven points. FDU trailed by one point at halftime.

Iowa began the third period on an 8-0 run. Again, the Knights, not satisfied with just hanging tough for the first 20 minutes, responded and trailed by two entering the final period. Once again, Iowa struck, increasing its lead to eight. Then, Madlena Gerke and Ava Renninger converted layups. Kailee McDonald drained a three, then a layup, to get the Knights within one with six minutes left. Iowa answered, then Bella Toomey’s three cut the deficit to two with five minutes to go.

Iowa coach Jan Jensen jumped up and down on the sideline. She was angered over a traveling call against one of her players. Jensen was probably letting out her concerns. With all due respect, the Iowa mentor was probably frustrated, not expecting the Knights to be in the thick of things so late in this contest.

Gaitley has alluded to playing games such as this in five-minute segments. The objective, naturally, is to win each. The coach was hoping to be within striking distance for the last five minutes. Gaitley and her Knights were one possession, with five minutes remaining, from being the first 15-seed to take down a 2-seed.

In the stretch, it was a combination of foul trouble and Ava Heiden. The 6-foot-4 Iowa sophomore, a first team all-Big Ten selection, was Jensen’s primary option. Heiden scored a career and game-high 29 points. In the final period, she scored 15 points, hitting four field goals, all in the paint. She was involved in virtually every Hawkeye possession those last four minutes.

Iowa moved on with a 58-48 victory, improving to 27-6, while FDU finished at 30-5.

Moral victory was not in FDU’s mindset nor terminology. Regardless, the effort the Knights showed proved a great deal to many observers, impartial or not.

“I think first, it puts a lot of respect on the NEC and mid-major schools,” Renninger, who led FDU with 13 points, said. “(Iowa is) a Top 10 team in the country, and we came in and showed what we’re made of, and showed what mid-major schools can do against these high (major) teams, and that's the impression we gave.”

“I think Ava hit it on the head,” Gaitley added. “The respect that we brought to the NEC and that we brought to FDU, and to show that on any given day, anybody can beat anybody, I think that’s a huge step for women’s basketball in the east.”

Whether you were impartial, an avid FDU fan or an Iowa aficionado, one thing was certain:

You had to admire FDU.

The Knights played with poise for 40 tough minutes, especially facing a huge Iowa crowd and battling the heat in a non-air-conditioned arena. They responded. They had Iowa working hard every minute and battling to move on. In the final minutes, Heiden, an outstanding player, simply imposed her size and will.

“I’m just pleased that we found a way to win,” Jensen said. “Credit FDU. They’re scrappy.”

Yes, credit FDU’s coaches and players. They did a great job representing the NEC, their school, and mid-majors in general.

Impartial or not, one would have to wholeheartedly agree.