Teams Should Be Aggressive And Run Effective Offense

Illinois vs. UConn, 6:09 ET

We’ve reached the Final Four. I can’t say there are too many surprises in this group, but we definitely had a journey to get here. One of the biggest knocks of the new era of College Basketball with the transfer portal and playing players is that there are not going to be too many Cinderella stories. That the biggest programs and the best players would make it to the Final Four. The reality here is that we don’t have any of the projected top three picks in the draft in this game, or even in the Final Four. Today, we see who makes it to the finals as Illinois takes on UConn.

Illinois has been a wild card this season. There are flashes where they look like they could be the best team in the country, and then moments where they look like they could’ve been bounced early in the tournament. They have looked amazing in the tournament, though. In the first game, they trounced Pennsylvania by 35 points. Then they beat VCU by 21 points. Against Houston, a game I thought they would lose, they beat the Cougars at their own game by 10 points. The Iowa game was weird, but mostly because there was a long delay due to a horn malfunction. It was relatively close for about three quarters of the game. Illinois finally pulled away from their Big 10 foes. Keaton Wagler was great in this one, putting up 25 points. This was the Illini’s third different scorer in four tournament games. 

Jan 11, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) and center Zvonimir Ivisic (44) and guard Keaton Wagler (23) and guard Kylan Boswell (4) and forward David Mirkovic (0) look on during the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

(Jeffrey Becker/Imagn Images)

It really is a shame that no one has talked about UConn and how they got here. Well, I guess I should probably fill you in on the game, or at least the last 10 seconds. Okay, obviously, if you watched any show from this past week, or went on social media, you saw it. After missing a free throw, UConn made the second shot. Duke went to inbound and got it in. They passed it back to the inbounder, who threw it ahead. A high fake and low throw would’ve gotten the ball ahead to one of two guys up against UConn and won the game for Duke. Instead, it was a turnover, and an all-time pull-up from Braylon Mullins that you’ll see forever. UConn never gave up in this game. They were down by 15 at halftime and flipped the game in the second half against the Blue Devils. That punched the Huskies' ticket to their third Final Four in four years. Lost in this is that I still find Dan Hurley insufferable, and I am not really sure how he got away with touching foreheads with a ref after the bucket. 

That’s all in the past, though. All that matters is what happens from here. The Huskies lost five games this season, once to Arizona, twice to St. John’s, and once to Creighton and Marquette. The Illini have lost eight games, one of those was to this same UConn team. In that game, the Illini shot just 21% from deep. UConn also beat them in assists by nine. UConn has the height to deal with Illinois. However, this Illinois team is playing much better, and Wagler looks much better than he did in the first few games of this season when the teams met. I think Illinois wins, but not strong enough to put my money on it. I’m betting on the over 139.5. Even though the teams may play tight, I’d expect both to get to the 70s. 

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