By Darryl Harding Sr –
A highly anticipated matchup between the #1 seated UConn Huskies vs. #3 Illinois Fighting Illini marks a battle to the Final Four. The most seasoned tournament team, UConn returns with four starters from last year’s championship squad while Illinois holds the most prolific pure scorer in Terrence Shannon Jr. averaging just under 24 points per game.
Confidently starting with a 9-0 run the Huskies, dominantly established their swagger. The first seven points scored by UConn center Donavan Clingan, left the Illini, true to their name, “fighting” back to shorten the deficit to two, 13-15.
Surprisingly Illinois managed to tie the game at 23-23, even with only two points from Shannon, but a 5-0 run to end the half left the Huskies ahead, 28-23. Unfortunately the second half only worsened the Illinis’ woes and the “fighting” escaped like air out of a punctured balloon as UConn went on a 28-2 scamper and the Illini were down 31 with just over 11 minutes left, 56-25.
Shannon’s issues scoring only emphasized Illinois weakness in production and accentuated UConn strength and their prowess in the paint.The Huskies 52 points inside, more than doubled the Illini’s mere 20 points from the paint.
Yukon head coach Dan Hurley commented about the Huskies performance after the game, ”we’ve got NBA level players that are just willing to share and have created an unbelievable culture. We’re going to be tough to beat.”
UConn now heads to Arizona for the Final Four, the seventh time in team history searching for a sixth NCAA tournament championship.
Sports Talk New England 