UConn Tops Illinois Again in Final Four, Reaches Third Title Game in Four Seasons

Tarris Reed Jr. and a freshman named Braylon Mullins dismantled Illinois' Final Four dream Saturday night, powering UConn to a 71-62 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and into the national championship game for the third time in four seasons.

Reed dominated the interior all evening, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds for a Huskies team now 34-5 on the season. Mullins, a first-year guard who has been making late-game history on a near-weekly basis, scored 15 points and knocked down four 3-pointers, including a go-ahead dagger three with roughly 52 seconds remaining that pushed the lead to 69-62 and effectively closed the door on Illinois. It was the same freshman who had buried the buzzer-beater to eliminate Duke in the Elite Eight just days earlier.

Illinois made it uncomfortable before the end. The Fighting Illini, appearing in their first Final Four since 2005, went on a 10-0 run in the second half that cut the UConn lead to four points with 6:08 left. Freshman guard Keaton Wagler drained a 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining to bring it to 66-62, and Brad Underwood called his final timeout trying to find a path back. Mullins answered with the dagger. UConn's only real scare had come in the first half, when Illinois briefly went ahead 22-21 — the Illini's only lead of the game.

Guard Solo Ball provided the sustained burst that kept Illinois at arm's length entering the final minutes. Ball hit three 3-pointers and scored 8 points in a five-minute stretch early in the second half, extending UConn's advantage at the precise moment Illinois looked capable of climbing back. The Huskies sank 12 3-pointers and recorded 14 team assists on the night, with three starters finishing in double figures. Silas Demary Jr. played a key facilitating role, recording multiple assists on Mullins' 3-pointers throughout the evening.

The win extended UConn's winning streak in the Sweet 16 or later rounds to 19 games. The Huskies won back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024 before a jarring absence from the 2025 NCAA Tournament entirely. Their return in 2026 has been seamless: head coach Dan Hurley is now three Final Fours into a four-year stretch, operating on a 6-year, $32.1 million contract extension signed in June 2023. He has credited UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma with helping him recalibrate after the program's first stumble. "You're not always going to have the '24 team, and you can't coach your team mad the whole year," Hurley said.

Illinois' season ends at 28-8 after a run that included the program's first Final Four in 21 years. Underwood became the first Illinois head coach to win 28 or more games in multiple seasons, and the Illini entered Indianapolis ranked fourth nationally in KenPom with a net rating of +34.41. The two programs had met once before this season, with UConn beating Illinois 74-61 at Madison Square Garden on November 28, 2025.

UConn faces the winner of the Michigan-Arizona semifinal Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. A seventh national championship would mean every UConn title has come within a 27-year window stretching back to 1999, a run of concentrated dominance with no real parallel in the modern game.