UConn back in national championship game after Final Four win over Illinois

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Apr 4, 2026

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INDIANAPOLIS — The UConn men’s basketball team is headed back to the national championship game for the third time in four years after taking down No. 3 seed Illinois, 71-62, in Saturday’s Final Four matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It was the Indiana kid, Braylon Mullins, who starred and hit another clutch 3-point shot in the final minute to hold off a late comeback push from the Illini and move the Huskies to 7-1 all time in national semifinal games. Mullins complemented a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double from Tarris Reed Jr. with 15 points of his own, which included four 3-pointers.

UConn, now 34-5 on the year and 77-33 all time in the NCAA Tournament, will meet the winner of Arizona and Michigan in Monday night’s title bout.

Solo Ball added 13 points with three of the Huskies’ 12 made 3-pointers in the game and Alex Karaban, now 18-1 all time in March Madness, finished with nine points, four rebounds and four assists despite shooting just 1 for 9 from the field.

Point guard Silas Demary Jr. paced the offense with seven points, nine rebounds and seven assists. And, as the head of the snake on defense, helped the Huskies hold Illinois — the No. 1 ranked offense in the nation — to just 33.9% shooting from the field and 6-for-26 shooting from 3-point range.

Mullins, who grew up about a half hour away from the arena and sent the Huskies back to his home state with the epic Elite Eight game-winner against Duke, fittingly made the first two 3-pointers of the game to lift the lid off the basket and help UConn get out to an 8-2 start.

The freshman set the tone for a first half that saw seven made 3-pointers and zero turnovers from the Huskies.

Reed continued his strong tournament run and asserted himself on the glass early, finishing a putback through a foul to begin a 10-2 scoring run. The Huskies’ lead got out to as many as nine points as Jayden Ross saw his first of two first-half 3-pointers fall.

But the shot-making cooled off and the Huskies missed 12 of their next 13 shots from the field after a 7-for-13 start. Illinois’ All-American freshman Keaton Wagler (20 points, eight rebounds) nailed the first 3-pointer of the game for the Illini. It was answered by Ross, but Illinois jumped in front with a triple from 7-footer Tomislav Ivisic (16 points, seven rebounds) to take its first lead of the game around the eight-minute mark.

A UConn scoring drought of more than five minutes was ended with a hook shot form Reed to regain the lead. And Ball and Karaban made back-to-back triples to push it to double figures with just over two minutes left in the half. Mullins connected on his third 3-pointer of the half in the final minute to counter a small run from the Illini and send the Huskies into the break with a 37-29 advantage.

Ball, who was just 3 for 21 from beyond the arc over the first four tournament games, added a pair in the second half to get the Huskies to 10 makes for the game before Jaylin Stewart got involved with one of his own to extend the lead out to 14 points with 9:44 to go.

It was only the second time since the Feb. 18 loss to Creighton that the Huskies made at least 10 3-pointers in a game.

But foul trouble became an issue as Illinois got into the double bonus and slowly cut down the lead from the free-throw line, making it a six-point game with seven minutes to play. Meanwhile, UConn couldn’t buy a bucket on the other end and saw its lead cut down to four at the five-minute mark.

Hurley turned to Reed inside to end the 10-0 Illini run and Ball ran out in transition for a one-handed statue of liberty dunk on the next possession before Illinois, just 4 for 21 from 3 to start the game, got a timely triple from senior sharpshooter Ben Humrichous, another Indiana native, around the three-minute mark.

UConn’s lead was just four with a minute to play when Mullins came around a screen and nailed a clutch 3-pointer. It was answered by Wagler with 43.5 seconds on the clock and the Illini intentionally fouled Demary, who made a pair from the free-throw line to push the lead back out to six with 36.6 seconds left in regulation and effectively seal the game.