By IlliniGuys Staff

April 4, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athetics)

INDIANAPOLIS -- The intangibles were there for Illinois,

They outrebounded UConn 44-37, committed only eight turnovers, and held them to one of their worst shooting nights of the season at 35.5 percent.

But in the number that counts, the Huskies got it done.

UConn drained 12 three-pointers and hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to hold off the Illini 71-62 and advance to their third national championship game in four years.

The Illini spotted the Huskies an 18-9 lead before they rallied. Andrej Stojakovic hit a bucket and a free throw before Keaton Wagler drained Illinois' first three-pointer. The Illini, which struggled to a 3-of-17 effort outside the arc in the South Region final win over Iowa a week earlier, missed their first six shots from long-range.

After a three-pointer by Jayden Ross, Illinois went on another 7-0 run capped by five straight points by Tomislav Ivisic to take their first lead of the game at 22-21.

But a pivotal moment was David Mirkovic picking up his second foul with 4:13 left and sitting out the rest of the half. UConn took advantage of the star freshman's absence and closed out the period on a 12-7 run.

Up 37-29 at halftime, the Huskies increased their lead to 14 points at 57-43 after a Jaylin Stewart three-pointer. But the Illini answered with a 10-0 run, keyed by six points from Tomislav Ivisic.

UConn responded with a Tarris Reed Jr. basket down low and then a Solo Ball fastbreak dunk to end a five-minute scoring drought and keep Illinois from making it a one-possession game the rest of the way. In a performance similar to their win over the Hawkeyes last week, the Illini held UConn to just 29 percent shooting in the second half. But they hit just nine field goals and shot just 33 percent, unable to take advantage and score enough points.

One Achilles heel for the Illini (28-9) all season was their spotty three-point shooting. Illinois managed to connect on just 6-of-26 of its shots from outside the arc, falling to 7-6 against power conference teams when they failed to connect on at least one-third of their three-point shots, compared to 13-3 when they did.

Wagler, who earlier in the day won the Jerry West Award as the nation's top shooting guard, scored a game-high 20 points and added a team-high eight rebounds. The 6-foot-6 inch consensus All-American completes the greatest season ever by an Illini freshman. His 663 points are a school record for a freshman and rank as the third best all-time. Wagler also became the 9th Illini with multiple 20-point games in the same NCAA tournament. He will now mull his future as the once-unheralded recruit is on the top 10 of everyone's NBA Draft lists.

Tomislav Ivisic added 16 points and seven rebounds while Andrej Stojakovic nearly posted a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

Reed scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the first half for UConn (34-5), which now looks to win a 7th national championship - and third in four years - Monday night against either Arizona or Michigan.

It was the second meeting this season between the two programs and the third in the past two years. UConn dominated the Illini 77-52 in the 2024 Elite Eight on their way to a repeat national title and took a 21-point lead in the second half on Black Friday last November in New York City before walking away with a 74-61 victory.

Illinois now looks to an offseason, awaiting a decision on Wagler while working to keep the rest of their key players on campus. Starter Kylan Boswell and key reserve Ben Humrichous are out of eligibility. All-Big Ten Freshman power forward David Mirkovic will be a focal point this offseason as will rising senior Andrej Stojakovic and Serbian twin centers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic and three-point specialist Jake Davis.

Illinois also adds 5-star recruit Quintin Coleman along with Lucas Morillo, Ethan Brown, and Landon Davis in the 2026 recruiting class as they now look to add pieces in the transfer portal, which opens next Tuesday.

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