UConn is back in the Final Four, continuing its path to a potential repeat title after thoroughly steamrolling Illinois Saturday night. Now, only one question hangs in the balance.

Can anyone come close to Dan Hurley’s Huskies?

The latest challenger was Brad Underwood’s Illini squad, fresh off an electric run to the Elite 8 behind a prolific offense and dynamic scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. Heading into halftime, it looked like the matchup would live up to the elite billing, but then UConn took things over.

By the time Illinois recovered from the Huskies’ blitzing start to the second half, the Illini were only left to play for their dignity. As for UConn, their date with destiny will continue in the Final Four after an eviscerating 77-52 victory.

Here are the key takeaways from Saturday night:

“The Run”

In every sport’s postseason, there looms a larger-than-life moment that is destined to stand the test of time. David Tyree’s catch against the Patriots, Michael Jordan’s shot against Georgetown, and countless other moments that can be evoked with a single phrase.

Saturday night’s defining moment — and potentially the moment of the entire NCAA Tournament — can only be described as “the run.” That, of course, relates to UConn’s game-swinging push to end the first half and begin the second out of the break.

With 1:51 left in the first half, Marcus Domask hit a jumper to tie the game at 23 points apiece. UConn would add 5 points to make it 28-23 heading into halftime but leaving many with a feeling that the game would continue to be close.

Spoiler alert: It would not be close throughout the second half.

Illinois opened the second half an unthinkable 0-for-14 from the field as UConn began to pull away. The Huskies cemented that run dating back to 1:51 in the first half with a Hassan Diarra layup to make it 53-23 with 13:16 left to play, giving UConn a clean 30-0 run to erase any doubt about the final outcome.

That display of dominance perfectly punctuates the past 2 postseason for UConn as the Huskies are 10-0 since the start of last year’s NCAA Tournament with every win coming by double digits.

Donovan Clingan dominates

At one point in the game, it appeared Illinois’ game plan was to attack UConn’s 7-foot-2 sophomore at the rim. Needless to say, it was not an effective maneuver.

Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Illinois attempted 19 field goals that would be contested by Donovan Clingan. The Illini missed every single one of them. Oh, Clingan also finished with 4 blocks while clogging up the middle of the lane on defense.

Clingan was far from just a defensive juggernaut in the game. He led all scorers with 22 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with 3 steals and 1 assist. Illinois is used to dominant big men after facing Zach Edey in the Big Ten, but Clingan took things to another level in the Elite 8.

To little surprise, the Huskies maintain the best national championship odds with FanDuel listing UConn at -190, and Clingan leads the odds to be the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player at +250. Fans can track the latest March Madness odds and get in on the action with Tradition’s BetMGM links.

Terrence Shannon Jr. bows out with a thud

Entering the Elite 8, Shannon was on an electric scoring run dating back to the B1G Tournament, and it was unclear if any team would be able to slow him down. The answer came Saturday with the Huskies holding Shannon to 8 points on just 2-for-12 shooting, a large portion of that coming at the rim.

For some additional context, Shannon was the nation’s 3rd-leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, and he had not finished a single game without reaching 10+ points all season long. His lowest shooting percentage in a game this season was 20% (2-for-10 against Indiana in January), truly delivering his worst performance of the season at the worst time possible.

To be fair, UConn’s performance was one for the ages, and Marcus Domask (7-for-13 shooting) was the only Illini regular to deliver an efficient evening. As a team, Illinois shot 25.4% from the floor and 6-for-23 (26%) from 3-point range.

It is undoubtedly frustrating to be an Illini fan, but that’s the tale of dominance that the Huskies have weaved.