The UConn basketball team continued their NCAA Tournament dominance on Saturday as they destroyed Illinois basketball to advance to the Final Four for the second straight year. The Huskies won the national title last season, and they are coming for another this year. UConn is now just two wins away from repeating as national champions.
Saturday's game ended up being a blowout, but Illinois basketball actually played UConn basketball pretty tough in the first half. The Huskies started off great as they got out to an early 9-0 lead, but once the Fighting Illini settled in, it looked like it was going to be a really good game.
Illinois was able to fight back after their slow start, and the first half turned into a competitive battle. With just under two minutes to go in the first half, the game was tied at 23. That's when everything went downhill for the Fighting Illini. Illinois didn't end the half strong as UConn had a little spurt to get a five point lead at the break, and they came out of the gates hot in the second half.
The game was tied at 23, and then with a little over 13 minutes to play in the game, the Huskies led 53-23. They went on a 30-0 run and crushed any hope that Illinois had of winning that basketball game. Those kinds of run rarely happen, and to see it in an Elite 8 game between two very good teams was bizarre.
Illinois went over nine minutes without scoring a point. It's not like the Fighting Illini have a bad offense, in fact, they have one of the best offenses in the entire country. That's why what UConn did was even more impressive than it looked. The Huskies put the game on ice with that run, and they ended up winning the game 77-52 to punch their ticket to the Final Four.
NBA world reacts to UConn's big win
This was the biggest game of the day in terms of the Elite 8, and everyone around the basketball world had their eyes on it. UConn basketball hasn't won a NCAA Tournament game by single digits this season or last, and it seemed like today could be the day that they got a difficult test. That wasn't the case. It was dominant, and it was impressive. Numerous people from around the NBA world had their eyes on the contest.
Kendrick Perkins was impressed with what he saw, and the Huskies put the college basketball world on notice, although, that had been done already.
Chandler Parsons was just as shocked as the rest of us watching UConn dominate Illinois during their 30-0 run.
Jaylin Stewart didn't have a big game for UConn as he dropped just two points, but Isaiah Thomas still enjoyed watching him compete on the big stage.
Now, UConn basketball is on to the final four, and they will take on the winner of Alabama and Clemson who are battling it out on Saturday night. The Huskies made a statement on Saturday with their impressive win over Illinois, and it showed just how difficult it's going to be for a team to knock them off. We'll see if they can become the first team since Florida in 2006-2007 to win back-to-back national titles.
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