Minutes after UConn gutted out its 71-62 national semifinal win over Illinois, a panicked staffer came running out of the locker room.
“We need a bracket sticker!” he yelled as he peeled around the corner.
Of all places you’d think would be ready-made with a sticker to slap on the NCAA tournament bracket, it would be UConn. On Monday, the Huskies will play for their national title in four years, a feat that hasn’t been matched since John Wooden was wizarding his way around Westwood. It is an accomplishment all the more improbable, considering all of the things in college athletics now destined to block such dynasty building.
And yet, the Huskies and Hurley are now 11-0 in Sweet 16 games and beyond, as inevitable a force that you will find maybe in all of college sports. Hurley, being Hurley, had to take a dig at folks for suggesting that perhaps his streak would be broken here, who – just as foolishly as leaving out a sticker in the UConn locker room – thought perhaps the Huskies might lose.
He made mention of the “prognosticators” who picked Illinois and the line against the Illini.
“You’re coming into the game as an underdog versus a team that you beat by 13 points earlier in the season, which was kind of surprising,’’ he said. “Obviously, I’ve been waiting to say that.’’
The man has a point. The Huskies have perhaps the most unique secret weapon in the game: Almost a muscle memory on how to win, built up over the years in one big game after another. It’s how they hung on despite blowing a 19-point lead to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 and why they rallied from down 19 to beat Duke in the Elite Eight.
It’s most certainly how they won against the Illini. The road was not easy; it was more like driving down a New England highway after a rough winter, bumpy and relatively uncomfortable. A game between the top-rated offense in the country and the 26th-best turned into a rock fight, where instead of trading buckets, the two teams traded scoring droughts.
All of which put a premium on little things, and in almost every statistical little thing UConn won – assists (14 to 3), turnovers (8 to 6), free throw-shooting (15 of 17 to 18 of 23). The Huskies only caved in rebounding but yet they won the biggest board of the game.
After UConn built a 14-point lead midway through the second half, the Illini chipped away, going on what would be better described as a stroll than a run. All of their eight points in the 8-0 closeout came at the free-throw line.
Nonetheless, they counted, and when Keaton Wagler scored on a spinning drive to the rack, Illini trailed just 63-59 with 1:39 to play.
Three weeks ago, way back in the Big East Tournament final, Silas Demary Jr. suffered a high-ankle sprain that knocked him out of the Huskies’ first-round game against Furman and hobbled him throughout this tourney. Hurley estimated he’s been nowhere better than 65% for three weeks.
He hasn’t really practiced and generally encases his bum ankle in a walking boot after games so he doesn’t have to use it.
And yet there soared Demary, all 6-foot-4 of him, skying to snag an offensive rebound off an Alex Karaban missed three. He corralled the ball and cross-court skipped it to an open Braylon Mullins, who swished a three and all but killed Illinois’ hopes.
“It’s definitely nothing but sheer effort,’’ Demary said. “Just to get that rebound was a big-time play in the game. Coach told us to be first one to the ball and to make those 50/50 plays, to do it on a bum ankle but still being able to give it my all and leave everything there for my teammates.’’
That’s exactly why Hurley went and snatched Demary out of the portal this year, bringing him to Storrs from Georgia.
“What Silas has done for our basketball program, the mentality, it was everything we were lacking last year,’’ he said. “Just a guard like him, ball hawk, incredible toughness, on the backboard. He’s a shell of himself offensively, but he’s really gutting it out and the courage he has showed, I think, has been inspiring for this group.’’
At least to people who like UConn, that is. The thing about being successful, about being so good that you become near inevitable in March, it invariably makes people tired of you. Everyone loves a winner, except when they win too much.
UConn’s success, coupled with Hurley’s personality, has rubbed more than a few folks the wrong way.
When the Huskies took the court here, they were booed roundly and Hurley’s postgame interview with CBS was nearly drowned by the catcalls. Some of that, no doubt, came from the overabundance of championship-starved Illinois fans who made the short ride here but there’s also an air of exhaustion with their success.
“We’re a tough program. We’re a group of fighters,’’ Hurley said. “It’s not appealing to everyone. I’m sure there are some people in here that find it off putting. For us, it’s not a game we’re just kind or running around in uniforms throwing a ball around, hoping it goes in. We’re fighting. It’s a live-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship.’’
Somebody better have a sticker ready just in case.
Source: edition.cnn.com
