When you think of the last game between UConn and Illinois, the term “30-0 run” comes to mind. On Black Friday, the two will meet for the first time since that Elite Eight game that saw the Huskies clinch a second-straight Final Four appearance, 77-52.
The fifth-ranked Huskies (5-1) are coming into Madison Square Garden with a 1-1 record in the six-game gauntlet during the non-conference slate. Illinois (6-1) also is 1-1 in major non-conference games (win over Texas Tech, loss to Alabama). Due to the loss to Alabama, the Fighting Illini fell out of the top-10 in the latest AP Poll, sliding down to No. 13.
Following a 72-49 win over Bryant on Sunday night, Dan Hurley said that Tarris Reed Jr. and Braylon Mullins would be “game-time decisions” going into Friday’s top-15 showdown. Both are dealing with ankle injuries, with Reed suffering his injury during an 86-84 win over BYU in Boston on Nov. 15. Mullins suffered an ankle injury before the regular season began and has yet to play since the preseason. That status did not change during the team’s media availability on Wednesday.
“For the first time in a while, we had 15 guys in practice,” Hurley said. “Just got to figure out: is this the game for [Mullins] and then Tarris—is he healthy enough to play?”
Eric Reibe has filled in for Reed and has not disappointed. After leading the Huskies in scoring in games against Arizona and Bryant, the 7-foot-1 freshman was named the Big East Freshman of the Week.
“What [his development] is doing for the team and the depth and what we’re going to have at center when we get Tarris back is, I think it’s going to make us so much stronger,” Hurley said.
For the first of at least four times this season, the Huskies will play at their home away from home, also coined as “Storrs South.” Connecticut has won 12 championships there, including eight Big East Tournament titles (tied for the most all-time) and the iconic 2014 East Regional Final against Michigan State.
“I’ve been told it’s our second home,” Silas Demary Jr. said after posting his first-career triple-double on Sunday night.
For Demary, Reibe and other newcomers on the roster, it will be the first time they will experience the atmosphere that Madison Square Garden has every time that UConn plays there. For Hurley, it is nothing new. He is 15-8 at the Mecca, including a Big East Tournament title in 2024 and winning eight of his last 10 games there.
All the stars align with the Huskies every time they play there. But Illinois is not to be trifled with. On KenPom, the Fighting Illini rank eighth in offense and 19th in defense in terms of adjusted efficiency. As a team, they shoot 50.2% overall and are excellent inside the 3-point line. They are also one of the top rebounding teams in the country, ranking in the 98th percentile with 45.4 rebounds per game.
“They’re incredibly well-coached and, from watching them on film, they’re as good as anyone that we’ve played and as good as anyone that we will play at all,” Hurley said.
Illinois is led by a three-guard backcourt including Andrej Stojakovic, Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler.
Stojakovic averages 18.5 points per game through six games, with at least 20 points in each of the team’s last three games. He ranks in the 98th percentile nationally in points per 40 minutes (27.5), 95th percentile in field goal percentage (58.8%) and 91st in 2-point percentage (68.2%).
“He’s got a lot of game,” Hurley said. “He’s athletic, a really classy athletic guard who’s got a bag in terms of shot creating.”
Boswell averages 16.1 points per game through seven games, only failing to score 10 points or more once (6 points vs. UT Rio Grande Valley). The senior from Champaign, Ill. has been reliable in Illinois’ two major games so far, scoring 22 against both Texas Tech and Alabama.
“Boswell is obviously the head of the snake,” Hurley said. “A veteran and just one of the best point guards.”
Wagler has emerged as one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten, averaging 15 points per game. The Shawnee, Kan. native has been vital for the Illini’s second-chance opportunities, averaging 3.9 offensive rebounds per game (98th percentile).
Along with a threatening backcourt, Illinois has a frontcourt that is among the best in college basketball.
Leading the way is freshman forward David Mirkovic, who is an automatic double-double with 15.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest. He has scored in double figures in every game so far, including a double-double against Alabama. His most impressive effort was a 27-point, 21-rebound performance against Colgate on Nov. 14.
At center is Tomislav Ivisic, coming off a season where he averaged 13 points per game. He has not fared as well this season, averaging 10.8 points per game and just four rebounds on average, but his 7-foot-1 presence provides a challenge for Connecticut’s frontcourt. He is a stretch-big that ranks in the 94th percentile nationally in effective field goal percentage (74.1%).
“Shooting from the center position and four man, that’s as good and as versatile as you’re going to play against,” Hurley said.
UConn is 3-1 against Illinois, with the lone loss coming during the 1938-39 season. Other times include a 70-66 win at Illinois in 1992, a 71-56 win at the Hartford Civic Center and, of course, the 2024 Elite Eight. In top-15 matchups at Madison Square Garden, UConn is 10-3 and is on a three-game winning streak in those matchups. At the World’s Most Famous Arena, the Huskies have faced a Big Ten opponent eight times, going 4-4. In ranked matchups against the Big Ten, UConn holds a 10-3 record(4-3 in top-15 matchups against the Big Ten).
The 2024 Elite Eight rematch, coined as the SentinelOne Showdown, will tip off on Friday at 12:30 p.m. on FOX.