UConn and Hurley muscle their way to 3rd national title game in 4 seasons, beating Illinois 71-62

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dan Hurley had UConn acceptable for different Final Four combat night. Once again, his Huskies scored a knockout.

Fabulous freshman Braylon Mullins made different last-minute 3-pointer — his lone handbasket of the 2nd fractional — and the Huskies muscled their mode past Illinois 71-62 connected Saturday to scope their 3rd nationalist title crippled successful 4 years.

Tarris Reed Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Mullins finished with 15 points arsenic the Huskies (34-5) rode beardown wrong play and pugnacious defence to their 19th consecutive triumph successful the Sweet 16 oregon aboriginal rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

They'll look Michigan with a accidental to triumph their seventh nationalist title, each since 1999, arsenic Hurley tries to go the lone progressive manager with much than 2 championships.

“We’re a pugnacious program, we’re a radical of fighters,” said Hurley, who won it each successful 2023 and 2024. “We’ve got unthinkable will. We spell into these games, we’re acceptable for battle. For us, it’s not a crippled that we’re conscionable benignant of moving astir successful uniforms throwing the shot around, hoping it goes in. That’s not what we’re doing retired there. We’re fighting. It’s a life-and-death conflict for america to get to Monday nighttime for the accidental to triumph a championship.”

Mullins sent the Huskies past Duke, the apical wide seed, successful the Elite Eight past play with the changeable of the tourney — a 35-foot 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. He was arsenic effectual this time, a abbreviated thrust from his hometown of Greenfield, Indiana.

After Silas Demary Jr. secured an violative rebound, Mullins deed a catch-and-shoot 3 with 52 seconds near that gave UConn a 66-59 and thwarted Illinois' precocious charge.

“The acceptable was going to beryllium tally for anybody connected the team. You’ve conscionable got to sprout with confidence,” Mullins said. “Just trying to find the champion look connected the floor, and I cognize our constituent guards are going to get america the ball, truthful I deliberation that was the biggest changeable I deed tonight.”

UConn needed it connected a nighttime prima guardant Alex Karaban struggled with his shot. He had 9 points connected 1-of-8 shooting portion adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists arsenic helium tied Hurley's brother, Bobby, for 2nd successful vocation March Madness victories by a subordinate with 18. A triumph Monday besides would marque him the archetypal subordinate since John Wooden’s ascendant UCLA teams successful the 1960s and 1970s to decorativeness arsenic a three-time champion.

Thanks successful portion to Karaban, the Huskies haven’t mislaid a tourney crippled played past the opening play since 2009, erstwhile they fell successful the nationalist semifinals to Michigan State. With 1 much victory, they would interruption a necktie with North Carolina and determination into 3rd spot unsocial successful nationalist titles, trailing lone UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight).

Freshman defender Keaton Wagler had 20 points and 8 rebounds to pb the Fighting Illini (28-9), who reached their archetypal Final Four since losing the title crippled to UNC successful 2005.

Wagler and Mullins became the archetypal brace of freshmen to apical 15 points successful a Final Four crippled since Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing successful 1982.

“It’s margins, they’re truthful small,” said Illinois' Brad Underwood, a 62-year-old coaching lifer who reached his archetypal Final Four. “Getting present is truly hard. Winning is truly hard. It’s wherefore I person truthful overmuch appreciation for Alex Karaban. He’s been to 3 of them. That’s freaky. It’s a rebound, it’s a escaped ball, it’s a shot rolling in, it’s a banked 3.”

Tomislav Ivisic had 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Illini, who couldn’t replicate the blueprint that carried them to double-digit victories implicit Penn, VCU, Houston and Iowa. Illinois made conscionable 3 of 14 3-pointers successful the archetypal fractional and finished 6 of 26 beyond the arc.

UConn took afloat vantage adjacent though the Huskies had 2 agelong scoring droughts — astir six minutes successful the archetypal fractional and much than six minutes successful the second. The second allowed Illinois to complaint backmost from its biggest shortage of the season, 57-43 with 9:43 to play, to get wrong 57-53 with 5:03 remaining.

But the Huskies answered and closed it retired astatine the free-throw enactment for their 5th consecutive triumph successful the series. UConn bushed Illinois 74-61 connected Nov. 28 successful Madison Square Garden, and present the Huskies person held the Illini to their 2 lowest scoring totals and shooting percentages of the season. UConn besides bushed Illinois 77-52 successful the Elite Eight 2 years ago.

“We held them to 35 percent (shooting),” Underwood said. “They conscionable made much 3s than we did.”

And finished with a small much punch.

“The twelvemonth hasn’t been a joyousness ride,” Hurley said. “We haven’t been a instrumentality of destruction. We’ve been a squad that’s had to grind retired games similar this.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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