UConn basketball has its biggest challenge of March Madness in Illinois for a spot in the Final Four.
The East Regional is preparing for its finale as UConn basketball prepares to take on the Fighting Illini in the Elite 8. Both teams won their conference tournaments which means they each are holding some of the longest active winning streaks in the country.
UConn and Illinois have faced off three times in their respective matchup history with Connecticut holding a 2-1 advantage and the last matchup coming in the 1994-95 season. The fourth matchup in the series is slated to take place at 6:09 p.m. at TD Garden in Boston with a chance to advance to Phoenix on the line.
UConn basketball is looking to make their 7th Final Four appearance and the University of Illinois is looking to make their 6th such appearance with a win on Saturday night.
We’ll see you tomorrow night, Husky Nation.
Forty more in Boston.#MadeForMarch | #MixForSix pic.twitter.com/HR7rZrDC0L
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) March 29, 2024
Illinois Fighting Illini
The University of Illinois adopted the nickname ‘Fighting Illini’ in 1921 when it was used as part of a fundraising campaign to build Memorial Stadium, the university’s football stadium. Although there are no official records, the term ‘Illini’ is believed to have ties to the Native Americans who first inhabited Illinois.
As far as the basketball program goes, Illinois will be playing in their 10th Elite 8 and first since 2005. The 2004-05 season is also the best finish in program history as they made it all the way to the title game only to lose to North Carolina. What most college basketball fans may remember from that tournament run is the unbelievable comeback over Arizona in the Elite 8 as they clawed back from a 15-point deficit with just 4 minutes left in the second half.
This season, the Fighting Illini feature one of the best offenses in the country (currently ranked 2nd per Kenpom) and are led by AP All-American Third Team player Terrence Shannon Jr. Despite the very public off-court stories surrounding Terrence Shannon Jr., he was able to return to the team and stay focused as he averages 23.5 points per game and is averaging just over 31 points per game since the start of the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
Alongside Shannon Jr. is senior forward Marcus Domask who averages 15.8 points per game and does a little bit of everything for the Fighting Illini. Domask was forced to step up earlier in the season while Shannon Jr. was suspended from the team and hasn’t looked back since as he has had some impressive performances in this postseason run. Those performances include 26 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds in the Big Ten Tournament title game as well as a triple-double in the Round of 64 against Morehead State.
Illinois outlasted a good Iowa State team to reach this Elite 8 matchup and certainly have the weapons to keep their season going for another week.
UConn Huskies
We have reached the point in the March Madness run where the public can no longer stay on the fence with UConn basketball and has to choose to either become a supporter or a hater. Most choose to become haters which is expected for anyone who’s the top-ranked team in such a widespread tournament, but that won’t stop Head Coach Dan Hurley from using that to motivate his team.
The hype surrounding the 2023 title game rematch was immaculate… and then UConn basketball took the court. Similar to the first bout, San Diego State University hung in the game for a while with their defense and their star Jaedon LeDee. Eventually, Connecticut was able to lock up LeDee who had just 3 points in the second half and I imagine a similar focused approach will be taken to deal with Terrence Shannon Jr.
UConn basketball currently stands as 8.5-point favorites in this matchup and the only way that this ends up as a close game is if UConn fails to slow down Shannon Jr.
Considering Illinois has the 84th-ranked defense in the country and UConn has the top-ranked offense (both per Kenpom) it feels safe to say that the Huskies are going to be able to score points. The bigger challenge will be figuring out how their 6th-ranked defense can stop the potent scorers on the Fighting Illini.
There’s not much left to say about UConn basketball that hasn’t already been said. The opportunity to become back-to-back champions is there for the taking and it’s Illinois that currently stands in the Huskies’ way.
UConn won six games in the NCAA tournament last year by an average of 20.0 points per game.
Lost three starters and five of their top eight scorers.
And they’re better.
That should not be possible.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 29, 2024