Hundreds of firefighters battle a deadly forest fire raging in southern Greece for the third day

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters and volunteers in southern Greece battled a wildfire for a third day that has killed two people and devastated a large forested area, prompting pledges of assistance from other European Union countries.

Two waterbombing aircraft from Italy joined the firefighting effort late Tuesday after Greece requested help through the 27-country bloc's emergency civil protection mechanism. A third plane from Croatia was also expected.

The Greek fire service said more than 400 firefighters, assisted by 22 aircraft, were engaged against the blaze in the rugged mountains of Corinthia in the Peloponnese region.

The authorities were optimistic that progress had been made as the main front of the blaze was out, leaving a large number of scattered fires. However, it remained unclear whether that success could be expanded on before winds whipped up and spread the blaze again.

Greece's minister for climate change and civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said so far up to 5,000 hectares (12,300 acres) had been affected by the blaze.

“The situation is very difficult,” he told a press conference. “We didn't expect that at this time of year ... there would be so many wildfires and that they would be so difficult to handle.”

While wildfires are common in the summer, this year the season started much earlier than usual, in April, and has extended well into the fall. The fire service said a total of 41 wildfires broke out all over the country over the past 24 hours.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said firefighters had been hampered in their initial response Sunday by the difficult terrain and poor road network.

“During the first, crucial stage of the fire, firetrucks had great difficulty approaching (the blaze) because of the narrow roads,” he said. “The many ravines and the gale-force winds blowing that day greatly impeded” the firefighting effort, Marinakis added.

Officials ordered that another village be evacuated as a precaution Tuesday, a day after half a dozen similar orders were issued. A major highway that was closed overnight as flames swept close by was reopened on Tuesday.

The blaze destroyed a historic church in the mountains and reportedly damaged buildings outside the threatened villages, but the fire service was not immediately able to provide further details.

The two victims were identified as local residents who got trapped late Sunday by the fast-advancing blaze.

Greece, like other southern European countries, is plagued every summer by destructive wildfires that have been exacerbated by global warming. Over the past few months, the fire service has had to cope with more than 4,500 wildfires — which Kikilias said was the highest number ever recorded in a single fire season.

This year's had been flagged as the most dangerous season in two decades after the countryside was left parched by a protracted drought and early summer heatwaves.

Still, Greece's big investments in extra water-bombing aircraft, warning drones and other equipment have led to most blazes being extinguished shortly after they broke out.

People react as flames burn a forest in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 while hundreds of firefighters and volunteers for a third day battled a large wildfire in the mountains of Corinthia in the Peloponnese region. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A helicopter drops water on flames during a third day of a wildfire, in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Firefighters operate during a third day of a wildfire, in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Firefighters try to extinguish the flames during a third day of a wildfire, in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A helicopter drops water on flames during a third day of a wildfire, in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

People watch and take photos of a helicopter dropping water on the flames during a third day of a wildfire, in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A firefighter drinks water during a third day of a wildfire in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A helicopter drops water on flames in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 as hundreds of firefighters and volunteers for a third day battled a large wildfire in the mountains of Corinthia in the Peloponnese region. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A helicopter drops water on flames in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024 as hundreds of firefighters and volunteers for a third day battled a large wildfire in the mountains of Corinthia in the Peloponnese region. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tarris Reed Jr. sat at his locker Thursday, fielding questions about his run as the interior-scoring, rebound-snagging force in UConn's latest Final Four push.

Yet he wasn't the main attraction.

That's because across the room, an even bigger gaggle of reporters waited for freshman guard Braylon Mullins — the Indiana kid who hit an all-timer of a shot to send the Huskies back to the sport's biggest stage — to return for his own round of interviews.

“Guards are the ones that hit the big shots,” Reed said Thursday when asked about big men getting their due, adding with a grin: “We just do our job, we do the dirty work — and we're used to doing it our whole life so we have fun doing it.”

Maybe so, but there's no minimizing the impact of size this week in Indianapolis. Not with the Final Four boasting its biggest quartet of teams going back roughly two decades, starting with guys such as Reed, Michigan's Aday Mara, Arizona's Koa Peat and Illinois' 7-foot Ivisic twins as anchors to lineups with size radiating all the way out to the perimeter.

The average height of the Final Four teams is nearly 79.1 inches, or roughly 6 feet 6, according to KenPom’s analytics site. That edges last year’s average of nearly 78.3 inches for the biggest of any Final Four going back to the start of KenPom’s data in 2007.

Illinois (28-8) is Division I's tallest team with an average roster height of nearly 6-7 (80 inches), while Arizona (36-2) is seventh at nearly 6-6 (79 inches). Michigan (35-3) and UConn (33-5) are in the top 30 nationally with nearly identical averages slightly behind the Wildcats.

Consider it a sign of the premium each team put on building a roster to overwhelm teams inside, on the glass and with game-altering length spanning the gaps between.

That kind of size, strength and wingspan creates trouble cascading through the matchups. ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock said teams are also thriving by finding power forwards and centers capable of stepping outside to stretch defenses further and create space, eliminating the ability for a defense to simply collapse on a lone big man.

“Guards still win in March,” said Hancock, the most outstanding player of the 2013 Final Four in Louisville’s later-vacated title run. "But I think these guys have become almost like a necessary component. If you want to win championships, you need a big 4 and a monster 5.”

And it's manifesting in several ways as March Madness reaches its final act.

The Illini have had the best defensive tournament efficiency of the Final Four teams while dominating the glass to complete those stops. Their roster includes an influx of European talent, including Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro.

The Illini also brings 6-9, 235-pound graduate Ben Humrichous off the bench, while the outlier in the big lineup is 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell as a strong backcourt defender.

The South Region champion has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams. Throw in the fact that Illinois is outrebounding opponents by 16.3 per game, and it's been a perfectly timed boost to an already elite offense with those forwards and centers capable of hitting from behind the arc, too.

"Playing in the summer, you could tell it’s a little bit harder to do some things just because you’ve got Z at the rim, who’s 7-foot-2 and a great shot blocker," 6-6 forward Jake Davis said. “You got Tommy down there. So anybody you’re going up against in practice is super tall. ... We’ve just got a bunch of length everywhere. And you could tell early on that we could cause problems for other teams.”

The Illini will be tested against Reed, a 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior whose scoring (21.8) and rebounding (13.5) averages in the tournament are the best of any player still standing.

That included opening the tournament with a video game-type stat line of 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, making him the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Houston’s Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968.

He’s coming off a 26-point showing in the comeback from 19 down to stun Duke in the Elite Eight.

“He’s a monster,” said UConn senior Alex Karaban, who was part of the Huskies’ 2023 and 2024 title winners. “He’s been so dominant. He’s really playing like the most dominant player in college basketball right now.”

When it comes to the No. 1 seeds, the Wolverines have hummed with 90-plus points in four tournament wins. The Wildcats have been right behind in offensive efficiency despite being shooting fewer 3-pointers than just about every other Division I team all season.

Their meeting Saturday matches strengths.

Michigan has used the 7-3, 255-pound Mara to protect the paint, flanked by a pair of versatile 6-9 forwards in Associated Press first-team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg (240 pounds) and Morez Johnson Jr. (250).

“Our size definitely makes it tougher for smaller guards,” Lendeborg said. “Because we’re so versatile ... we can switch and guard point guards, make their life a little harder. And you know, we’re all strong bodies too. So we try to wear down teams.

“And then, toward the end of the game, that’s when we usually make our runs when we need it.”

Michigan will be tested against the Wildcats with 7-2 center Motiejus Krivas (10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Peat, a 6-8, 235-pound freshman considered a strong NBA prospect.

“If you don't have the big to defend other bigs, you can't compete at this level in my opinion,” Hancock said.

“How do you make it so you're really tough to guard and you have an advantage? It’s the 4-men in this Final Four who are just so talented and the diversity of their skill sets — they can do so many things. That is the ultimate to me.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Arizona forward Koa Peat (10) dunks during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Purdue, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

Iowa's Tavion Banks (6) has his shot blocked by Illinois' Zvonimir Ivisic (44) during the first half of an Elite Eight game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

UConn forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) reacts after the team's win against Duke in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)