One of the most successful seasons in the history of the Illinois basketball program concluded on Saturday night, when the Fighting Illini fell to the UConn Huskies, who extended their run of double-digit NCAA Tournament wins to ten games at the expense of the Illini with a 77-52 win. The Huskies used an unprecedented 30-0 run over the course of eight and a half minutes of game action to turn a 23-23 game into a 53-23 blowout in what was seemingly the blink of an eye.
A key aspect to UConn's dominant win over Illinois was the Huskies ability to slow down All Big Ten 1st Team performer Terrence Shannon Jr.. Shannon, one of the most prolific scorers in the country, was held to just 8 points on 2-for-12 shooting, a total well below his season average of 23 points per game, and his tournament average of 28.3 point per game. But despite the one-sided loss to what looks to be a historically great Connecticut Huskies team, Illinois' controversial star took to Twitter after the game and had nothing but love for his teammates, his school, and Illini Nation.
Thank you Illini Nation ❤️🟠🔵 pic.twitter.com/7aaFEflw8A
— Terrence Shannon Jr (@Sn1per_T) March 31, 2024
Terrence Shannon Jr. wasn't the only member of this tremendously successful Illinois squad to take to social media after the game.
To all the fans, I’m extremely grateful for how you treated my family this season. You showed them so much love and made this experience unforgettable for them. Thank you ❤️
— Marcus Domask (@marcusdomask) March 31, 2024
Along with All Big Ten 1st team selections Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask, Coleman Hawkins is another member of the Illini who has likely played his final game for Illinois. After the game, the 6'10” senior forward shared that he believed he had played his final game in an Illinois uniform.
“I think I want to take a next step and really just develop my game and just get better at basketball. I feel like that next step is at another level,” Hawkins said, per Joey Wagner of the Illini Inquirer.
The departures of Shannon, Domask and Hawkins will usher in a new era of Illinois basketball for head coach Brad Underwood, who despite the rough outing on Saturday night, has nothing but love for what was undoubtedly the best team he's coached during his seven year tenure in Champaign.
“I'm the most blessed coach in college basketball,” Brad Underwood said after the game, according to Sam Farris of Writing Illini. “I don’t want one person in this program, that’s had anything to do with our men’s basketball program, to remember it by this game.”
There's no reason why they should. Illinois' 29 wins are the third-most in program history, trailing only the 2004-05 squad that lost in the National Championship Game to North Carolina, and the 1988-89 team led by Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Kendall Gill that went to the Final Four.
Follow Us
Subscribe