UConn Crushes Illinois, Advances to Final Four

The David and Goliath story, which involved the Illinois Fighting Illini as the former and the UConn Huskies as the latter, didn’t quite go as it did in the Bible.& In this NCAA Men’s Elite Eight matchup, David got destroyed.& UConn scored 30 unanswered points against Illinois and completely buried them, winning 77-52 to advance to the Final Four.& The first half of Saturday’s game was competitive. The Illini tied the game at 23 with less than two minutes left in the first half. When the half concluded, the Illini, one of the best offensive teams in the tournament, appeared to be in striking distance, trailing 28-23.& But when the second half started, the Illini simply could not score. When they got their first bucket in the second half, 7 minutes and 21 seconds elapsed. By then, Illinois was down 28 points. The Huskies clamped down on the Illini’s offense. Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois’ leading scorer, scored just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting in this game. Marcus Domask was the only Illini player to reach double digits, leading them with 17 points.& Overall, the Illini shot 25% from the field and 26% from the three-point line. Meanwhile, the Huskies shot...