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Illinois struggles from 3 again in season-ending loss to UConn
By Adam Spencer
Published:
INDIANAPOLIS — The Illinois Fighting Illini picked a bad time to stop making 3-point shots.
The Illini managed to overcome shooting struggles from beyond the arc in an Elite 8 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa last week, but it did them in on Saturday night in Indianapolis against a tough UConn team in the Final Four.
In front of a crowd that made it feel more like an Illinois home game than a neutral-site affair, Brad Underwood’s squad was ice-cold from range, starting 3-for-14 in the first half and finishing an abysmal 6-for-26 from deep.
Meanwhile, UConn knocked down 12 of its 33 tries from beyond the arc in what ultimately became a 71-62 Huskies victory.
You could feel that it wasn’t Illinois’ night during a 90-second stretch in the second half. First, this shot somehow didn’t fall for Andrej Stojakovic:
Then UConn’s Solo Ball got the friendly bounce on this 3-point attempt:
That’s the kind of stretch you can only chalk up to the Basketball Gods being angry at you.
Meanwhile, Braylon Mullins, who made one of the biggest shots in NCAA Tournament history last week against Duke, kept his magic going. He scored 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and made 3 triples, including this one that he banked in:
Despite shooting so poorly from deep, Illinois still made a couple of runs in the second half to cut UConn’s lead to 4. But Mullins is perhaps the hottest shooter in America right now.
This is a shot you only take if you have a ton of confidence in how you’re playing:
On a night when Illinois played pretty well otherwise, the 3-point issues were killer. Illinois attempted 30.7 3-pointers a game this season, good for 12th in the nation. But the Illini only made 10.7 per game, which was the 17th most in Division I. That 34.8% success rate was only the 134th best mark in Division I.
When you shoot at that volume and have issues with efficiency, you’re always susceptible to an off night. Illinois overcame a 3-for-17 shooting night from deep against Iowa, but that weakness came back to bite the Illini against a UConn team that’s elite at defending the 3-point line.
Coach Brad Underwood didn’t mind the looks the Illini got in the first half. He said the shots just weren’t falling.
“I liked our looks,” he said. “Even though we were 3-of-14 from 3 (in the first half), I liked every one of our looks. I thought defensively it was the tempo that we wanted. I thought we were really solid, and we were down 8 (at halftime).
Illinois made 18 free throws to UConn’s 15. The Illini out-rebounded the Huskies 44-37. Illinois had 22 paint points and 12 bench points, compared to 20 and 10 from UConn.
Thus we come back to the 3-point shooting. Mullins went 4-for-7 to finish with 15 points. Solo Ball knocked down 3 triples to finish with 13 points. Illinois only had 2 players make multiple 3s — Keaton Wagler (2-for-10) and Tomislav Ivisic (2-for-7).
Tarris Reed Jr. was a menace down low for the Huskies, putting together a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double. Silas Demary Jr. flirted with a triple-double, posting 7 points, 7 assists and 9 rebounds.
Wagler had 20 points to lead the Illini. He also grabbed 8 rebounds. Ivisic put up 16 points and 7 boards.
This was Illinois’ first Final Four since that legendary 2005 squad that featured Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Luther Head, Roger Powell Jr. and James Augustine. Underwood was emotional in his postgame press conference, saying this loss hurts but he hopes more Final Fours are in the Illini’s future.
“This team … gave me joy because they were about all the right things. If you want to put a contest together about good human beings, we’ll win,” Underwood said. “There’s no question what this group will be in life. As a coach, that’s why I got in this. Am I competitive? Does today stink? It hurts. My gut hurts so bad right now that I feel for all of them.
“But I’m also excited about the joy that we brought a lot of people in this run. We’ve got Illinois back to a level that they’re in Final Fours again, and my God, as long as I’m the ball coach, I’d better not take 21 damned years to get back there.
“We’ve got great people. We’ve got great support. For that, I’ll reflect at some time — today is not a very good time to ask me that. But I’ll reflect on what we’re doing. I feel sad. I’m sad. If you want to know the truth, I’m sad.
“But I’ll reflect on some of the other stuff later. Seasons coming to an end stink. I’m going to steal a quote from Kelvin Sampson. I may not be as big a part of their life, but they are my life, and I’m sad.”
A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam is the news editor across all Saturday Football brands.