UConn vs Illinois (Final Four) | Page 19 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Illinois (Final Four)

fwiw, there won't be dual champions from Storrs this year, so the men have to go it on their own.

I don't watch a ton of women's games, but that 2nd half was an embarrassment - went from 4 up to 14 down. There was an actual UConn player crying after missing an easy bunny.

Geno is gonna be salty. Already arguing with Staley in the handshake line.

I don't know if Hurley can use this as motivation as our women were the favorites, but damn that was ugly.
 
UConnTrumbull said:
20 Big East scrimmages for the women really hurts when things get tough
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And 4 tourney scrimmages coming into this one. Women’s game is like 5-6 teams - cliff.

First game I tuned in to this year and SC was so much more athletic, UConn was really weak at PG. It was Fudd from the outside, Strong inside (SC collapsed on her) and nothing else.

Did UConn make a bucket inside the three point line or the 4th?
 
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storrsroars said:
fwiw, there won't be dual champions from Storrs this year, so the men have to go it on their own.

I don't watch a ton of women's games, but that 2nd half was an embarrassment - went from 4 up to 14 down. There was an actual UConn player crying after missing an easy bunny.

Geno is gonna be salty. Already arguing with Staley in the handshake line.

I don't know if Hurley can use this as motivation as our women were the favorites, but damn that was ugly.
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Please move this to the women’s board.
 
aceboon said:
There will be a different UConn coach getting raked over the coals in the media for at least the next 20 hrs
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Not a good look for Geno at all - guy should be a senior statesman after 12 titles and absorb this stuff with a little more dignity. That in game blowup and hand shake line expose aren't where he should be at this point in his career. SC won that game fair and square - Geno had no counter punch to SC, who outhustled Uconn and played lock down D.
 
CTBasketball said:
Different team. Need to disrupt Wagler with the hedge and limit drives by Stojakovic.see
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CTBasketball said:
Different team. Need to disrupt Wagler with the hedge and limit drives by Stojakovic.
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I don’t get that. They were a different team? Why? Did they have any injuries? Did they have two players coming back from injury like we did? They talk about their freshman kid being a different player. He started in every one of the games prior to our game. Whereas we had Mullins playing what, 12 minutes? And who can say that Bear is playing at the same level now than he did in November? They missed some open 3’s, but so did we. I will die on this hill. UConn by 15.
 
RuffRuff said:
Not a good look for Geno at all - guy should be a senior statesman after 12 titles and absorb this stuff with a little more dignity. That in game blowup and hand shake line expose aren't where he should be at this point in his career. SC won that game fair and square - Geno had no counter punch to SC, who outhustled Uconn and played lock down D.
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Ruff, first time in a while i agree with a take of yours. I was embarrassed for him. Bad look. Real bad.
 
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Mr. French said:
That’s actually not what he’s saying.
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UConn is a 2 seed. They've been in the top 10 all season. How could he possibly say it's a fluke that UConn got this far? I'm positive he's talking about UConn's steal and 35 foot shot. I'm sure the guy isn't a brain surgeon but I don't think he could be that stupid to say UConn shouldn't be in the Final Four because they're not good.
 
storrsroars said:
fwiw, there won't be dual champions from Storrs this year, so the men have to go it on their own.

I don't watch a ton of women's games, but that 2nd half was an embarrassment - went from 4 up to 14 down. There was an actual UConn player crying after missing an easy bunny.

Geno is gonna be salty. Already arguing with Staley in the handshake line.

I don't know if Hurley can use this as motivation as our women were the favorites, but damn that was ugly.
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Hideous performance.

They not only couldn't make a shot, but they got outhustled and gave up multiple run outs for open layups.
 
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HooperScooper said:
UConn was a 2 seed. They've been in the top 10 all season. How could he possibly say it's a fluke that UConn got this far? I'm positive he's talking about UConn's steal and 35 foot shot. It would be a really stupid take if he's saying UConn shouldn't be in the Final Four.
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It's not up to me to determine how he could possibly say that, but he said "they are lucky to be here" and then mentioned the shot being a fluke - those were 2 separate statements. Then he said Illinois would suffocate them defensively and punch them in the mouth and beat them - what logical reading of those comments can lead you to say he was ONLY talking about the Mullins shot? He is saying we are lucky to be in this game and we don't stack up to them, period. Do we all think that's nonsense? Of course, but I'm talking about what he said, we all agree it's illogical and silly and probably click bait.
 
HooperScooper said:
All 6 CBS Sports college basketball writers pick Illinois. Good.

www.cbssports.com

2026 March Madness predictions: NCAA expert bracket picks, odds for Final Four games on Saturday

Our experts give their opinion on Saturday's Final Four games in the 2026 NCAA Tournament
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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They're fashionable right now. Odd Parrish and Norlander picked Uconn vs spread and Illinois straight up. I guess they're expect 1-5 Illinois in close games to beat 10-1 Uconn in close games by 1 or 2.

Fashionable rarely means right. Everyone is picking them because of how they've played against Iowa & VCU. I cannot until we beat them by 10. They were 4-5 with ZERO quality wins before this tourney. ZERO - best win was against Indiana. No wins against tourney teams.
ec33 said:
As I said in the women's post-game thread I am very much hoping Danny isn't taking this as a challenge.
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Last thing UConn needs is coaches acting like idiots in front of the media. Not sure what got into Geno honestly.
 
storrsroars said:
Geno might need to get into a p4 more than Danny does. The BE does the women's team absolutely no favors.
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IDK - you have the best player in the country, you've seen SC plenty and played some good teams OOC. Needed to do better.

ec33 said:
Even thinking about Dawn Staley doesn't bring out the best in me. Dealing with her antics all game long on a miserable night?
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No excuses for that. You're coming off a title and undefeated - take the loss like a man. Guy is getting crushed on SM.
 
HooperScooper said:
I hear you. I don't remember why he only played 15 minutes in the game against us.
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First half he sat with two fouls. Second half Illinois was down 21 and made a run to cut it to 7 with him on the bench - so they stayed with the lineup that was working. Now, you’d bring him back as soon as you could but back then he was a strong piece but not as vital to what they do.

Boswell was the go to guy and had 25 against us and Wagler was basically a peripheral piece for a day. Those two roles will reverse now. If Wagler has 25 and Boswell has 3, it’s an even trade.
 
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I liked what Hurley said in reference to the MSG game vs them in Nov. That whether it matters or not - Its better ultimately to be in the position now as the winner of that game rather than having lost it. Well said.
 
storrsroars said:
Geno might need to get into a p4 more than Danny does. The BE does the women's team absolutely no favors.
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It didn't do Texas any favors as Madison Booker had 2 pts and Texas had 21 pts at the half. While the competition hurt UConn they lost because they couldn't shoot. Would being in a P4 conference make them shoot better in a FF game.
 
RuffRuff said:
Not a good look for Geno at all - guy should be a senior statesman after 12 titles and absorb this stuff with a little more dignity. That in game blowup and hand shake line expose aren't where he should be at this point in his career. SC won that game fair and square - Geno had no counter punch to SC, who outhustled Uconn and played lock down D.
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He apparently was upset that Dawn didn't shake his hand during the pre-game introductions (they still do that?) She had already shaken his hand when they came out.

Something tells me we wouldn't have heard a peep about this had we played well and won.
 
Scoe said:
Would being in a P4 conference make them shoot better in a FF game.
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Facing better competition probably would help them finish better. Did you actually see how bad many of those 2nd half layup attempts were? Those weren't just spinning off the rim, they were missing the rim entirely. The team cracked, nobody stepped up to lead, including Strong, which surprised me. I figured at some point she'd just put her foot down and take over, but she never did.

The women could basically sleepwalk through the BE sked and tourney. They played 23 BE games and averaged a winning of margin of 39. There were no single digit margins. That's a joke of a conference.

At least the men have BE opponents that will give them a physical game.
 
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