When Illinois and UConn faced off back at the beginning of the season in November, it was quite the 74-61 convincing win for the Huskies. In that matchup, star freshman Keaton Wagler only played a whopping 14 minutes and scored just three points on one made three-pointer.
Now, roughly five months later, Illinois will face UConn again, this time with much bigger stakes on the line. A Final Four matchup will determine who will have a chance to compete for a National Championship and who will go home just one game away from being able to do so.
In this matchup, while some might think Wagler will be the difference maker as he has grown exponentially since that November matchup, head coach Brad Underwood actually believes the speed of the game will play a huge factor.
Speed of the game will be key to Illinois upsetting UConn in the Final Four
Illinois is certainly not the same team that they were back in November, or even back in February, and growing as a team has been huge for the Fighting Illini. The biggest change for Illinois throughout the season and certainly since that UConn game is that they have played at a slower pace.
Underwood felt like his team was playing way too fast earlier in the season, especially in that UConn loss, and in this rematch, he plans to make a big change.
"We were racing up and down the court earlier in the season," Underwood said.
Underwood wants to be able to slow the game down big time and allow Illinois to play the game that they have perfected through March. Both of these teams are different from who they were back in November, and with the way they have performed through the NCAA Tournament, it is a good bet that this will be a very entertaining Final Four matchup.