Three weeks ago, some doubted whether the University of Connecticut would even get out of the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend after a humbling and deflating loss to St. John’s in the Big East tournament championship.
Twenty-one days later, the Huskies are playing for a national championship for the seventh time in program history, and third in four seasons, after a 71-62 victory over Illinois in Saturday’s national semifinal.
“(I’m) just obviously thrilled,” an elated Dan Hurley said after his UConn team received 17 points and 11 rebounds from Tarris Reed, Jr., the third double-double for the senior in the NCAA Tournament, and 15 points from Indiana native Braylon Mullins in the victory. “There’s no better feeling than being on that bus on Monday night, just being one of the last two teams standing. It’s just a cool experience.”
The Huskies (34-5) jumped on Illinois early, with Mullins picking up where he left off after Sunday’s iconic game-winning shot to beat Duke and send UConn to the Final Four. The freshman knocked down a pair of threes in the opening minutes, then settled in as his team built an 18-9 lead against a tentative Illini offense.
“Coming into the game, I knew I needed to shoot it with confidence,” Mullins said as he played 30 minutes from his hometown of Greenfield, Indiana. “Seeing the first two go in, it just boosts all the confidence for you to keep shooting. I think it just happened within the game.”
Illinois (28-9) would recover from that onslaught, however, uncorking a 13-3 run to take its one and only lead after a Tomislav Ivisic three put the Illini ahead by a 22-21 margin. The advantage was short-lived, though, as a Reed basket just three minutes and ten seconds later put UConn ahead again, ultimately to stay.
The Huskies would fire a 13-2 salvo to respond, beginning with Reed’s go-ahead score, retaking a double-digit advantage that was an eight-point margin at halftime, at 37-29. Following the interlude, UConn would eventually pad its cushion to 14 points, when a Jaylin Stewart triple made the score 57-43 with 9:44 remaining in regulation. The run made sure the Illini remained stymied, unable to ignite an offense that entered Saturday’s contest as the most efficient in the nation, per KenPom.
“We make those shots against everybody else,” head coach Brad Underwood lamented. “Maybe it’s the (UConn) uniforms, I don’t know. Those are point-blank shots that we missed. When you miss some easy ones, then it stresses your defense.”
Illinois had one last rally left, ripping off 10 unanswered points to get within four as UConn’s offense stagnated, but a Reed hook shot and Solo Ball one-handed slam doubled the margin in short order. The Illini would get no closer than four after Mullins and Keaton Wagler traded threes, with the Huskies closing the game out in the final minute to underscore the common theme of staying together through adversity.
“I’m extremely proud,” Alex Karaban said, praising his teammates. “We could have backed down and really could have given into their run, and they had all the momentum. They definitely were heavily favored in the crowd as well.”
“We’ve been in that position before, too, just knowing when a team comes back, what to do and how to respond. I thought we did a great job.”
UConn will have a tall order on paper no matter who it faces on Monday, be it Michigan or Arizona, each of whom combine to represent the two most dynamic offenses in the country. Regardless of what happens in the second semifinal, the Huskies will be formidable simply by being themselves.
“That’s just a testament to the coaches giving us confidence,” Silas Demary, Jr. reflected. “When it’s winning time, we try to connect as much as possible and have each other’s back throughout the whole time. Even when (Illinois) had that run late in the second half, we told ourselves, ‘we’re fine, let’s just respond.’ And I think we were able to do that.”
“We’re a tough program,” Hurley added. “We’re a group of fighters. It’s not appealing to everyone, but we’re a group of fighters. We’re incredibly tough, we’ve got incredible will, we go into these games ready for battle. It means everything for us to show up as warriors for our battles.”
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