Illinois head coach Brad Underwood on Saturday remained steadfast with his team’s strategy against UConn. Underwood’s game plan did not exactly work to perfection.
Illinois had their NCAA Tournament run cut short in the Elite Eight after a 77-52 blowout loss against UConn at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
The Fighting Illini made it a point of emphasis throughout the contest to attack Huskies center Donovan Clingan in the paint. Illinois found little success challenging Clingan early in the first half, though, missing a handful of layups and seeing several shots swatted away.
CLINGAN STUFFS HIM AT THE RIM #MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/yKqpDpFLQJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 30, 2024
Despite the team’s struggles at the rim, Underwood said in an in-game interview that Illinois would keep “going at” Clingan.
“We’re going to keep going at [Donovan Clingan]. If he blocks a hundred, he blocks a hundred," Underwood said. "We’re not backing down. We’re going to do what we do.”
"If he blocks 100 he blocks 100"
Famous last words pic.twitter.com/RcXHIRgxN7
— Ryan Cassidy (@ryancassidycbb) March 30, 2024
Clingan did not block 100 shots. But with the way he protected the rim all game, it must have felt like 100 to the Fighting Illini faithful. The UConn center finished with five blocks to go along with his 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Illinois was outscored 52-20 in the paint in large part due to Clingan’s rim protection. The Illini shot just 17/67 (25.4%) from the field.
Perhaps Underwood opting for any sort of Plan B could have prevented the insane 30-0 UConn run had that buried Illinois.
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