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When Illinois coach Brad Underwood looks back on his team’s game against Connecticut on Black Friday, he almost doesn’t recognize the Illini.
UConn’s 74-61 win over Illinois on Nov. 28 was a reality check for Underwood’s team. The Illini entered the season with big goals and split games with ranked Texas Tech and Alabama teams in the first couple of weeks of the season.
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Then the Huskies, ranked No. 5 at the time, jumped to a double-digit first-half lead and led by as many as 21 points in a game that was never really close at Madison Square Garden.
Now UConn (33-5) is the team standing in the way of Illinois’ first national championship appearance since 2005. The teams meet Saturday in the first national semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at 5:09 p.m. (TBS).
“Both teams are dramatically different, and there will be some things we take from the tape, but not a lot,” Underwood told reporters from the Ubben Basketball Complex in Champaign before practice Tuesday.
The loss actually was a turning point of the Illini season because of one specific development.
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Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler scored three points in 14 minutes, both season lows. He took just three shots in the game. Illini coaches looked at that game and knew they had to do something to spark his involvement in the offense.
“Keaton touched the ball maybe four times in that game,” Underwood said.
They began to put Wagler on the ball more, allowing him to use his high basketball IQ to facilitate the offense. The guard’s season took off. He has scored in double digits in every game since, including 70 total in the NCAA Tournament, on his way to being named a second-team All-American and Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Underwood also noted that the Illini were still figuring some things out after Andrej Stojaković (knee) and Tomislav Ivišić (tonsils) missed significant time in the preseason.
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Stojaković scored three points, and David Mirković had eight…
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Publish date : 2026-04-02 23:52:00
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