UConn 71, Illinois 62 Postgame
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Goillinikobd
- Southeastern US
I did exactly the same thing
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I give thanks this morning for our coach, every one of our players, and this season we cherished together.
Thanks to all of you in Dan’s community here who made this ride we enjoyed so rich and memorable. And Dan, once again,
.
And thank you, Kylan, for coming home. We appreciate how hard you worked to honor our team and share your talent. My heart broke listening to your anguish.
It’s a day of rebirth in more ways than one. I can’t wait for the first tip off in November.
We love no other.
Thanks to all of you in Dan’s community here who made this ride we enjoyed so rich and memorable. And Dan, once again,
.And thank you, Kylan, for coming home. We appreciate how hard you worked to honor our team and share your talent. My heart broke listening to your anguish.
It’s a day of rebirth in more ways than one. I can’t wait for the first tip off in November.
We love no other.
So many of our shots just rattled out or rolled off the rim. UCONN's did not. Nature of the game I suppose lol
I look back further in the first half when AS missed back to back ft when we were up by one. They went on a run after
I could not be prouder of our team and the turn out of Illini fans in Indy. Everywhere we went we saw orange. Things didn’t bounce our way but it wasn’t because of lack of effort. Not a Hurley but the dude can coach.
Tears shows you care. It shows the game and the fans mean something to you. Tears are not a sign of weakness but of a temporary pain that demonstrates your love of the team, the game, your fans, and the way you dedicate yourself to the sport you love. They are not tears of sadness but of passion and drive. And that becomes added strength and dedication that you carry forward as you move on. He's a special young man with an outstanding future with very many smiles ahead.
Praises God for giving him life and opportunity!!! Happy Easter
You said it. Sadly, once again the Illini hit their (and our) heads on that Glass Ceiling that's been binding and taunting this program for so long -- leaving the ranks of 'The Very Good Of College Baketball' and joining the likes of (those who will not be named) who are already recognized as 'The VERY BEST Of College Basketball'.
This was an opportunity to break through and shatter that Ceiling that has plagued the Illini (and us around here) for all these many years. That is the most frustrating thing of all. We all know how tough it is in today's hyper-competitive Game to get to the Final Weekend. These are the opporunities you just have to find a way to prevail in because you never know when you'll get another chance.
This should all make the Illini Ball Family even hungrier to get the job done. And the Illini had tremendous National publicity over the past couple weeks on the World stage. That wont hurt in the process of shattering that damned Glass Dome we keep hitting our heads on.
Having said that... this takes nothing away from having great thanks and appreciation for the job the outstanding Illini AD and Coaching Staff have done in getting the Illini back to this high level. This current high level may not have yet cracked the Ceiling but has solidified a Solid Foundation Floor.
Wasn’t our night … Couldn’t be more proud of this group …
I normally save this for wins only … But these boys earned one last one …
I normally save this for wins only … But these boys earned one last one …
There was no issue with their 40 minutes. Don't go there. This was easy to dissect. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't. Welcome to sports. As they say, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Every team we beat this tournament, their fans felt the same way. Arizona felt it last night and either Michigan or UCONN will feel it tomorrow.
It's the beauty of this event.
This team brought such joy to so many.
The Final Four run erased so many demons of the past 21 years.
This run gave me an opportunity to share my pure joy with my daughter and create memories that will last a lifetime.
We will raise a glass to the team that will raise a banner!
The Final Four run erased so many demons of the past 21 years.
This run gave me an opportunity to share my pure joy with my daughter and create memories that will last a lifetime.
We will raise a glass to the team that will raise a banner!
I attended the game and was happy to have gotten to experience seeing the Illini back in the Final Four despite the loss. Keaton Wagler is just a special player. To do what he did on that stage against that type of defense. If not for him and Tomi, that game isn't even close b/c those shots were not falling. I'm going to really miss Keaton and wish we had longer to see him in an Illini uniform but he needs to move on to the next level where he is going to be a great player(maybe on the same level of Deron Williams in terms of All Star caliber). That Tomi we saw making 3's was the same Tomi from last year's two tournament games and really last year in general. It was nice to see him get his confidence back and be the Tomi we know he can be.
It was a low scoring game like I suspected it would be and UConn really imposed their will defensively and made timely three's and focused on getting the ball to Tarris Reed in that first half. But, despite being down 57-43, the Illini battled back, made it a game, and put themselves in position to engineer a full comeback but just couldn't hit shots in that final minute or two. Regardless, great season by our guys, I'm glad that it turned into a close competitive game and they atoned for themselves well. Nothing to be mad or ashamed about. Just wish all of the Orange and Blue could've had a win to celebrate. I do believe they would've gotten beaten pretty convincingly over Michigan which may have left a bad taste in a lot of our mouths similar to what happened in 1989.
Regarding the atmosphere, UCONN had their section of fans in the lower bowl next to the Illinois section and their student section(which was not totally full by the way and same was the case with Arizona's student section) but outside of that, there weren't many UCONN fans in the mid and upper levels. Their fans don't travel so well once outside of the northeastern part of the US. Arizona was a similar story with their section of fans opposite the Illinois section, maybe some more red spread out throughout the arena(it was hard to tell with the orange all throughout). Michigan had a fair contingent of fans spread out throughout the stadium but if I were to take a guess, out of the 72,000 fans that came, I'd say 40,000+ were Illini fans. So, they came out in droves and wish we could've left with a better result but that UCONN team is well coached and well established for making these types of runs now. I hope they can break through and beat UCONN for once in the United Center later this fall when they play again.
It's an experience I will always look on fondly as the stars don't always align to have our team play so close to home(whether it be Milwaukee last year, whether it be Indy or Rosemont or St Louis in 2005, or whether it be the Final Four this year)
It was a low scoring game like I suspected it would be and UConn really imposed their will defensively and made timely three's and focused on getting the ball to Tarris Reed in that first half. But, despite being down 57-43, the Illini battled back, made it a game, and put themselves in position to engineer a full comeback but just couldn't hit shots in that final minute or two. Regardless, great season by our guys, I'm glad that it turned into a close competitive game and they atoned for themselves well. Nothing to be mad or ashamed about. Just wish all of the Orange and Blue could've had a win to celebrate. I do believe they would've gotten beaten pretty convincingly over Michigan which may have left a bad taste in a lot of our mouths similar to what happened in 1989.
Regarding the atmosphere, UCONN had their section of fans in the lower bowl next to the Illinois section and their student section(which was not totally full by the way and same was the case with Arizona's student section) but outside of that, there weren't many UCONN fans in the mid and upper levels. Their fans don't travel so well once outside of the northeastern part of the US. Arizona was a similar story with their section of fans opposite the Illinois section, maybe some more red spread out throughout the arena(it was hard to tell with the orange all throughout). Michigan had a fair contingent of fans spread out throughout the stadium but if I were to take a guess, out of the 72,000 fans that came, I'd say 40,000+ were Illini fans. So, they came out in droves and wish we could've left with a better result but that UCONN team is well coached and well established for making these types of runs now. I hope they can break through and beat UCONN for once in the United Center later this fall when they play again.
It's an experience I will always look on fondly as the stars don't always align to have our team play so close to home(whether it be Milwaukee last year, whether it be Indy or Rosemont or St Louis in 2005, or whether it be the Final Four this year)
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Super proud of this team. I hope anyone that can return will next year.
Looking back on the entire tournament I can't help but think that it was officiated so much differently than the Big Ten. This team generally adjusted very, very well on defense, but not being used to the style impacted their shooting on offense. Does the Big Ten call games so much closer than the other conferences, or do the officials just let the players get away with more in the NCAA tournament?
The NCAA had a big push toward allowing player movement a few years ago starting with Pitino's Louisville team who thugged its way to the championship. There seems to be a massive disconnect between what the NCAA Rules Committee is saying they are trying to accomplish by reducing physical play and what is actually happening with they style of play.
Looking back on the entire tournament I can't help but think that it was officiated so much differently than the Big Ten. This team generally adjusted very, very well on defense, but not being used to the style impacted their shooting on offense. Does the Big Ten call games so much closer than the other conferences, or do the officials just let the players get away with more in the NCAA tournament?
The NCAA had a big push toward allowing player movement a few years ago starting with Pitino's Louisville team who thugged its way to the championship. There seems to be a massive disconnect between what the NCAA Rules Committee is saying they are trying to accomplish by reducing physical play and what is actually happening with they style of play.
Sometimes you're the window and sometimes you're the bug man. It was incredible how many balls literally sat on the back of the rim or sloooowly rolled off. If those roll an inch in the other direction, it's a different conversation this morning.
We won the rebounding battle, we made free throws, we held UCONN to 35%, w got great looks,.....those guys did everything right. The ball just didn't roll our way. If I was one of those players.... I'm sure they wonder why. There's no answer outside of bad luck.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
After sleeping on it that game was the basketball version of a football team outgaining the other team by 100 yards and losing cause they just couldn’t cash in td’s. We did most all the little things better. Just couldn’t score. Did we ever score more than 2 possessions in a row. It never seemed like we did.
DB11Headband
- Chicago Burbs
Love this team. Love my university.
Start planning for Detroit in ‘27. Has a chance to be another special season.
Start planning for Detroit in ‘27. Has a chance to be another special season.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
Narcissists generally don’t care what the rest of the world thinks about them.Also, I have to ask those at the game, did Hurley seem surprised he was boo'd so loudly during his postgame comments? I think everyone except the UConn fans were booing.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Yeah… but he can’t win in April.
You'll get another shot in Chicago next year . Lower stakes but another shot to get the monkey off your back. I'll be there with a few Illinois fans , my wife and by then 3 year old daughter ... Can't wait to do this again.
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