Defending champion UConn completely dominates Illinois

Field Level Media|published: Sat 30th March, 20:34 2024

Mar 30, 2024; Boston, MA, USA; Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) dunks the ball against Illinois Fighting Illini forward Coleman Hawkins (33) in the finals of the East Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at TD Garden. credits: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON — Top-seeded UConn shut down Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. and scored the first 25 points of the second half to coast to a 77-52 victory over the third-seeded Fighting Illini in the Elite Eight on Thursday.

After breaking a 23-23 tie with the final five points of the first half, the Huskies (35-3) essentially punched their ticket to the Final Four in the first seven minutes of the second.

Donovan Clingan opened the outburst with a short jumper, and he later put together a sequence in which he blocked Quincy Guerrier, snagged the rebound and threw home a dunk on the other end.

That led to an Illinois timeout, but it ended up having no effect on the Huskies, who went on to expand their lead to 30 at 53-23 when Hassan Diarra punctuated the back-breaking run with a layup at the 13:16 mark of the half.

Justin Harmon scored down low with 12:41 to go for the Fighting Illini's first points following intermission.

Clingan finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and three steals for UConn, which is headed to its seventh Final Four in program history. Cam Spencer also recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, and Diarra supplied 11 points.

The Huskies are now two wins away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back national championships since Florida did so in 2006-07.

In winning the East Region, UConn outshot Illinois 51.7 percent to 25.4 percent overall.

Shannon, who entered Saturday with seven straight games of at least 25 points, was held to eight on 2-of-12 shooting from the floor. Marcus Domask paced the Fighting Illini (29-9) with 17 points.

Clingan got UConn off to a fast start, scoring the first seven points of the game. Illinois didn't get on the board until Domask split a pair of free throws with 16 minutes left in the first half to make it 9-1.

The Fighting Illini got within 15-13 on a Domask 3-pointer with 11:27 remaining, but points were few and far between for the remainder of the period.

The Huskies never fell behind, but they did give up the lead when Domask scored inside with 1:49 to go to tie things at 23-all.

However, Diarra canned a 3-pointer and Tristen Newton sank a pair of free throws to send UConn into the break up 28-23.

—Nick Galle, Field Level Media

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