UConn takes down Illinois, advances to second consecutive Final Four

Back-to-back championships have not occurred in college basketball since Florida cut down the nets in 2006 and 2007. On Saturday, UConn took another step forward toward winning another title, beating Illinois in Boston to advance to the Final Four. Another dominant performance from the Huskies, a running theme of the last two seasons.

At one point, Illinois did not put a point on the board for 50 minutes in real-time. UConn dominated coming out of the halftime locker room, starting on a 30-0 run. Donovan Clingan took over in so many different aspects and if fans did not know his name heading into the Elite Eight, they certainly do now.

Clingan finished with a double-double, scoring 22 points on 9-13 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds. Illinois was scared to drive the ball at times and for good reason. His presence in the paint was felt on nearly every possession and Clingan was rewarded with five blocks.

Even his defensive effort when guarding straight up was incredible. Three steals for the 7-2, 280-pound center wound up leading UConn, who had four total as a team.

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Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. was having an incredible NCAA Tournament but was held in check in a big way. Shannon finished with just eight points on 2-12 shooting, by far his worst scoring performance of the season. He had been in double-figures in every other game in ’23-24, with his previous season-low being 11 points vs. Purdue on March 5.

Head coach Brad Underwood had dreams of bringing the Fighting Illini back to the Final Four for the first time since 2005. Unfortunately, the journey is over and he will have to regroup for next season. A nice run through the Big Ten and postseason but the Huskies were too much in the Elite Eight.

Hurley and UConn will be the first to say the job is far from over, no matter how good of a win they had against Illinois. Two more wins are still required before the Huskies ultimately complete their goal of winning a national championship. But plane tickets to Phoenix can now be booked and begin a migration from the northeast.

Alabama–Clemson is the later game on Saturday night, with the winner getting the honor of playing UConn in the Final Four.