INDIANAPOLIS – Before Saturday night’s matchup, UConn had won 12 of its last 13 Final Four games.
For Illinois, a program that had only won just one Final Four game ever, the task was simple: keep Tarris Reed Jr. away from the glass and make life difficult for him in the paint.
Reed Jr. was up to 11 points and five rebounds at half, but Illinois had something different to worry about: the rim had a lid on it.
After missing their first eight three-point shots, the Illini gained their first lead of the night
at the eight-minute mark following two triples from Keaton Wagler and Tomislav Ivisic, turning an early 11-18 deficit into a 22-21 lead.
But the Huskies answered in no time, as Solo Ball and Alex Karaban both knocked down triples to get on the board for their first points of the contest and put UConn back in front, giving the Illini a sneak peek of their second halves to come.
Illinois did its best to take care of Reed Jr., and in return won the rebound battle 44 to 37. The Illini even won the paint-points battle, 22 to 20.
The problem? Shots not going down, which led to a rushed offense. Illinois made only six of its 26 attempts from behind the arc Saturday night.
And on top of that, the Illini had just three assists the entire game. That’s not a typo.
Big Ten All-Defensive first-team selection Kylan Boswell took on the assignment of guarding Huskies superstar forward Alex Karaban, who struggled in the Elite Eight win over Duke. Boswell followed through on his duty, virtually keeping him out of the game until his triple before half.
But Karaban made life just as difficult for David Mirkovic, holding him to just six points and five rebounds – his second consecutive NCAA Tournament game without a double-double after blowing Penn and VCU out of the water in the first two rounds.
Illinois chipped away, but simply couldn’t knock down enough shots to storm back. As the Illini aimed to keep their energy levels high, UConn’s energy levels increased. Solo Ball scored ten second-half points.
Illinois, a team that’s known for shooting (and making) quite a lot of three-pointers, failed to live up to that expectation against UConn head coach Dan Hurley’s defense. Even when the Illini did get open looks, they didn’t fall.
The Illini played as physical as possible, playing their hearts out to keep the Huskies from putting the ball in the hoop, but needed a little luck to go their way – and it didn’t. Illinois fell to UConn 62-71 after leaving it all out on the floor.
“You wanna know the truth,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “I’m sad.”
To beat UConn, it was imperative that the Illini drain some long ones.
Especially with the Huskies picking up their shooting from three in the second half.
The lead stayed around 10 points, and Illinois couldn’t find a way back into the game….until about the eight minute mark.
Two Tomislav Ivisic free-throws and a Ben Humrichous rejection cut the lead to six points and gave Illinois fans in Indy a glimpse of hope.
With three minutes left to play, a Ben Humrichous triple put the Orange and Blue in reach of a comeback, down 61-56. Another Wagler layup brought it even closer and saw Illinois down four with one minute to go.
The Illini knew they’d have to close out hard against Greenfield native, freshman guard Braylon Mullins. But the Elite Eight hero knocked down his first two attempts from behind the arc and banked in a third from the logo to tally 12 points before heading into the tunnel.
Mullins worked his magic yet again, knocking down his fourth triple of the night to stretch the Huskies lead back to seven at the most important time, putting Illinois’ season to rest.
Stat Stuffers
On a different note, Illinois fans were glad to see Tomislav Ivisic knock down 2 of his first 4 shots from three-point range after struggling from range recently, and that confidence led the Illini center to a 16-point, seven-rebound game.
Although Wagler made just two out of ten triples, he directed the offense as usual and kept Illinois chugging along. Wagler finished with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Both teams’ guards were relentless when it came to crashing the boards, as Wagler tallied eight boards and Silas Demary Jr. racked up nine. Tarris Reed Jr. finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
A season to remember for the Orange and Blue.
