UConn and Illinois’ Final Four matchup was one that wasn’t pretty, with both teams shooting under 36% from the field. However, despite multiple runs of 5+ minutes without a point, it was the Huskies who prevailed, 71-62, for a spot in the national championship game on Monday.
Here are some quick takeaways from the game on both sides.
1. Tarris Reed’s incredible March run continues
The biggest winner from the NCAA Tournament has to be Reed, who came into this game averaging over 20 ppg and 10 rpg in the team’s Final Four run, including 31 points and 27 rebounds in the win over Furman in Round 1. In the first matchup with the Illini, Reed was limited after returning from an injury.
He was healthy this time around, leading the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of play. Reed has shown flashes of being an All-American caliber big man, but these past few weeks have been his best play to date. And UConn is about to be the biggest beneficiary of it.
2. UConn wins the battle of the freshmen
Credit to Keaton Wagler of Illinois, who led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds for the Illini in likely his last college basketball game before going off to the NBA. However, the top first-year player was Braylon Mullins, who finished with 15 points. He was just 5/14 from the field but did have four three-point shots, including the last one with a minute to go, to give the Huskies enough separation to win.
In a game where Alex Karaban and Silas Demary Jr. combined to go 3/16 from the field, Mullins’ points were huge in UConn’s victory.
3. Silas Demary’s all-around game
Yes, Demary didn’t shoot very well, but he did everything else well for the Huskies. He finished with seven points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, while also playing good perimeter defense.
Demary also gets credit for just one turnover in 31 minutes, with the team not turning it over for the first 27 minutes of the game. Despite the multiple scoring droughts they went through, UConn’s ability to never give Illinois easy opportunities to score allowed them to hold on for the win.