On Black Friday, UConn beat Illinois at Madison Square Garden, 74-61. On Saturday, the two teams will play for a spot in Monday’s national championship game.
It will be the first time the two teams meet in the NCAA Tournament since the infamous 30-0 run in 2024 that punched Connecticut’s ticket to the Final Four, where it eventually won its sixth championship.
The 2-seeded Huskies (33-5) have been carried by Tarris Reed Jr., averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, three assists and 2.3 blocks per game during the NCAA Tournament. He was named the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player after helping the team upset top-seeded Duke in Sunday’s Elite Eight classic.
“I’m looking up at the banners like there’s one last open slot for a reason,” Reed said after practice at the Werth Family Basketball Champions Center on Tuesday. “So, best believe we’re gonna go out with everything we have.”
Connecticut would not be playing in Indianapolis this weekend if it were not for one of the greatest shots in March Madness history, as Braylon Mullins hit the game-winner from 35 feet out with 0.4 seconds remaining. The five-star freshman is coming home to Indiana, but he has not shot the ball well in this tournament. He is averaging 11.8 points per game on 42.5% shooting and a dismal 20.8% from deep. Mullins has looked automatic from mid-range with a 75% clip from inside the arc.
“He’s not letting one shot change who he is, and he’s not letting that add to this team,” Alex Karaban said in a media breakout session on Friday. “He knows how important that shot was, and he knows at the same time, too [that] if he continues his hangover of celebrating the shot, he won’t be ready for tomorrow. So, he’s been the same person. He’s been preparing the same way.”
And for Karaban, he is at his third Final Four in his decorated four-year career. While he was left off the All-Region team (a head-scratching decision to only put one UConn player on it), he has played some of his best basketball in the past four games. He is averaging 17.8 points per game on 48.1% shooting and 38.7% from deep.
“He babysits [the team]. He’s the greatest problem-solver you’ll ever have in practice, in game,” Dan Hurley said on Friday. “The tone he sets for your culture with his work habits, the peer pressure that he puts on everyone in the organization when your best player works as hard as he does, it just puts enormous pressure on everyone to stay out of Ted’s at night, which is a bar on campus, and to be in the gym shooting.”
The Huskies’ offense and defense have remained around the same in terms of division rankings, but outside of shooting an appalling 29% from 3-point range, you can argue that UConn is playing its best basketball right now. The Huskies are limiting turnovers (averaging 10 per game) and making an enormous effort on the glass, despite losing the rebounding game against Duke, 34-28.
“A lot of this comes down to turnover margin, who takes care of the ball,” Hurley said. “For us, we’re looking at the rebounding like it’s World War III on the backboard because of how [Illinois assaults] you on the glass and how important rebounding is in terms of victory.”
Outside of giving the Blue Devils a 19-point advantage, the Huskies’ defense has looked like the top 10 defense it has been all season long. The way UConn started the Michigan State game was impressive, while the second-half performance against Duke was a masterpiece.
“We have to put our defense first, not really worry on offense,” Alec Millender said on Friday. “Once we work hard on defense, do the little things, offensive flow, shots will fall and everything will fall into place.”
For example, Kylan Boswell played 39 minutes in that game, while Keaton Wagler played just 14 minutes. Now, Wagler is one of the best players in the country and a sure-fire lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft. During this tournament run, Wagler has averaged 17.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 43.6% shooting, including a 44% clip from deep.
“The guy’s a really, really talented player,” Hurley said on Wagler. “Obviously, we’re going to have to try to make him uncomfortable.”
Three-seeded Illinois (28-8) boasts the most efficient offense in KenPom history and has played elite defense as of late, especially against 2-seeded Houston and 9-seeded Iowa in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, respectively. Out of the four teams in Indianapolis, the Fighting Illini have the lowest defensive efficiency on KenPom, ranking 20th in the country.
However, CBB Analytics ranks them 7th in defense in the four games played in this tournament. Illinois sits atop with the best net rating in the country during that time.
“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,” Hurley said.
UConn has faced some intimidating frontcourts so far, but none of them as tall as the one Illinois will trot out. The Fighting Illini are the tallest team in the country, with an average height of 6 feet and 8 inches. That frontcourt is led by a duo of David Mirkovic (14.8 ppg) and Tomislav Ivisic (12 ppg). Ivisic, 7-foot-1, has a 7-foot-2 brother who comes off the bench as his backup center. Mirkovic told reporters on Thursday in the open locker room session that Reed has not seen two seven-footers in this tournament yet and implied that he would have his hands full with the size of Illinois’s frontcourt.
Hurley told reporters on Thursday that Silas Demary Jr., playing through an ankle sprain, will be around 90% at tip-off on Saturday night.
“We’re going to need all of that,” Hurley said.
The Huskies are 4-1 against the Fighting Illini, the lone loss coming in 1938. They are 6-1 in the national semifinal, with every one of those six wins resulting in a national championship win a game later.
Tip-off from Lucas Oil Stadium on the biggest stage in college basketball is set for 6:09 p.m. and is available to watch on TBS, truTV and HBO Max.