Why Illinois vs UConn Final Four Will Be Different Than First Matchup

A lot can change over the course of a college basketball season, even for a Final Four team.

That’s certainly the case for Illinois and UConn, which squared off on Nov. 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Huskies won that matchup 74-61, but both teams have made notable personnel changes that alter how the rematch figures to be played.

Start with the Illini, whose 10-man rotation from November has shrunk to seven. In the first game against UConn, guards Mihailo Petrovic and Brandon Lee logged 18 and 11 minutes, respectively. Lee didn’t attempt a shot, and Petrovic went 1-for-7 from the field.

Advertisement

Since then, Petrovic has played double-digit minutes just once and scored 10 total points across 15 games, while Lee has played single-digit minutes in all 15 appearances. If either plays in the Final Four, it will be because the game is out of reach in either direction, Illinois is in major foul trouble or there has been an injury or two.

That gives Underwood 29 minutes to allocate elsewhere. The top candidate to absorb that – by a long shot – is Keaton Wagler, who played just 14 minutes in the first game against UConn. He finished with three points on 1-for-3 shooting, his fewest points and field-goal attempts of the season.

Wagler was an under-the-radar recruit when he arrived at Illinois, but he has since blossomed into an All-American and likely NBA lottery pick. In two contests immediately following the UConn game, he scored 16 points in a win over Tennessee and 23 to defeat Ohio State. He has played at least 30 minutes in each of Illinois’ past 22 games, and is now averaging 33.8 minutes on the season. Unlike the first matchup, he will certainly be a focal point of Illinois’ offense in the rematch.

Illinois also utilized a different starting lineup back in November. Andrej Stojakovic started 21 games before suffering an ankle injury that cost him two games. That allowed Jake Davis to step into the starting lineup, and Underwood has stuck with that alignment ever…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/why-illinois-vs-uconn-final-210920956.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-03-31 21:09:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.