Dan Hurley cuts down the nets as UConn advances to second straight Final Four

Dan Hurley cut down the nets for the second straight year on Saturday as UConn defeated Illinois in dominant fashion to reach the Final Four. The Huskies won 77-52 behind 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks from star big man Donovan Clingan.

UConn entered the second half hanging on to a 28-23 lead and would not waste any time expanding it. The Huskies began the half on a 25-0 run as the Fighting Illini were held scoreless up until the 12:30 mark. By that point the game was already well out of hand as UConn held Illinois to only six points across the first 10 minutes.

“Just turned it up,” Hurley said of the run. “Credit to Illinois. It’s one of the hardest teams to play in this tournament. They’re incredibly well-coaches, NBA players. They came into this game really, really hot. But systematically, we were able to break them down.”

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Another net goes down at the hands of Dan Hurley pic.twitter.com/pNfg0wZNfE

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The Final Four appearance is not only the second straight for UConn, but also the seventh in program history. The Huskies have gone on to win the national title in five of the past six times, but Hurley said his team isn’t worried about chasing what it did last year.

“It’s not about trying to win No. 6 or go back-to-back,” he said. “This time of year, you just love your team. You can’t imagine what it would be like to not get up the next day and still coach your team. That’s what you learn when you’ve won the way we’ve won. It really is about the work, the journey, the process with the group. Then obviously, too, with my son Andrew, the thought of not being his coach made me a little bit sad too.”

The Huskies defense was spectacular in the victory, holding Illinois to just 25.4% shooting. They also came away with 10 total blocks as a team.

Dan Hurley and UConn will be the first to say the job is far from over, no matter how good of a win they had against Illinois. Two more wins are still required before the Huskies ultimately complete their goal of winning a national championship. But plane tickets to Phoenix can now be booked and begin a migration from the northeast.

Alabama–Clemson is the later game on Saturday night, with the winner getting the honor of playing UConn in the Final Four.