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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
BOSTON — Late in the first half of Saturday's Eastern Regional final game between UW and Illinois, the Huskies' dominant march toward back-to-back championships appeared to be in jeopardy. Not only did they have a double-digit win streak, but they also survived to the NCAA Tournament.
The Fighting Illini fought back from an early deficit to tie the game with 1:49 left before halftime.
Less than eight minutes into the game, UConn led by 30 points.
The Huskies scored 30 points in a row, an onslaught not seen in the final stages of the NCAA Tournament in recent years, and won 77-52, advancing to the Final Four for the second straight year. UW will face the winner of Saturday night's West Regional final between Alabama and Clemson.
The 30-0 mark is UConn's best record since Dan Hurley took over as coach in 2018.
“30-0 is crazy,” UW All-American point guard Tristen Newton said.
“The basketball we were playing was at a special level,” Hurley added.
One of the key tactical questions going into Saturday's game is how the University will protect smooth-shooting center Coleman Hawkins, and how the University of Illinois will use its five-out offense to protect the 7-foot-2 It was about being able to pull Donovan Clingan away from the basket and free up a running lane.
It quickly became clear that Illinois had no real answer to dealing with Clingan. The projected lottery pick scored the first seven points and produced an impressive defensive performance.
“What he did to them defensively, it scared them,” Hurley said. “And obviously they didn't have any answers for him offensively.”
Clingan's presence in the paint was impossible to overcome. He was officially credited with five blocks, but he may have been one or two short. Illinois simply couldn't score at the rim. The Illini missed eight of his first 10 layups and shot just 28.6 percent from 2-point range in the first half. Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. made 2 of 12 from the field, but stopped going to the basket altogether midway through the second half.
I guess everyone is projecting him into a lottery ticket or something close to it? Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of Clingan: “We talked ad nauseum about spacing them out. … Give him a lot of credit. There's an elite guy out there.”
In Clingan's first 17 minutes on the floor, Illinois scored just four points. The University of Illinois was 0-for-19 on Clingan's field goal attempts, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
He recorded 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 steals in 22 minutes.
“When he's out there, he's a huge presence. He's going to block shots and make everything really difficult, and that's exactly what he did,” sophomore forward Alex Karavan said. Told. “He did a great job defending the wall. He didn't get in foul trouble against us, which he might have in other games. But every time he blocked, he He just went vertical. It just gave him a lot of confidence. This was really one of his best performances. ”
UW was unable to take advantage of Illinois' early struggles, creating an unexpected defensive struggle between two of the best offensive lines in the country. The Huskies missed their first 10 3-pointers and only made two from outside the paint.
Newton didn't make any shots in the first half, going 0-for-6. While Shannon struggled, Marcus Domask, a transfer from Southern Illinois, kept the Illinois players in the game, making two early threes and using his size to get past smaller defenders in the post. He scored the goal.
Domask's consecutive goals tied the score at 23 late in the second half, but UW scored the final five points to take a 28-23 lead at the end of the second half.
“I wasn't worried at all,” Newton said. “We knew what type of work we were doing and how easy it would be to score. We knew the flow was going to start. And once the flow started… I just knew the game was over.”
The Huskies opened the second half with the next 25 points, closing out the game wide and continuing their dominant two-year run in the NCAA Tournament. UW has won each of its past 10 NCAA Tournament games by at least 13 points, making him the first team to win so many games by double-digit margins. The Huskies have won by just 28 seconds in this year's tournament, defeating their four opponents by an average margin of 27.8 points.
They also became the third team in NCAA Tournament history to win by at least 25 points in each of the two games directly leading to the Final Four, following Kentucky in 1993 and La Salle in 1955.
Of the second 80 minutes that UConn played in this year's NCAA Tournament, the Huskies held a double-digit lead for 76 minutes and three seconds.
“Our defense is elite. Our offense is elite. We rebound the ball. They play every possession like it's the end of the world,” Hurley said. “Kimani [Young] and luke [Murray] We develop players with high-quality scouts that any head coach in the country would be proud of. Those two are amazing.
“We have NBA-level players who want to share and we've created an unbelievable culture. It's going to be tough to beat us.”
