Illinois throws out book on previous matchups with UConn and tries to flip the script in Final Four

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Illinois coach Brad Underwood doesn't need any reminders about what happened the last two times his team faced UConn.

He can just plug in the game tapes, rewind them and watch them again. Back in November, the Huskies led wire-to-wire in a 74-61 victory. Two years ago in the Elite Eight, UConn used a 30-0 run en route to a 77-52 victory on the way to a second straight national championship.

There's nothing the Fighting Illini can do to change those results now, but they do believe they can change the course of this series Saturday when they face UConn in their first Final Four clash in more than two decades.

“I’ve said all along, you just have to keep knocking on the door and our opportunities were going to come,” Underwood said in Indianapolis when asked about the impact of the 2024 postseason loss. “We learned a lot from that game. I thought that team was a Final Four team that just happened to play a damn good basketball team in the Elite Eight, so we didn’t get there. But I think we grew from that from the standpoint of understanding how hard it is, what that looks like.”

Underwood took those lessons, revised his plan and started plotting how to get the Fighting Illini (28-8) to their first Final Four since 2005. Now, after 39 seasons in the coaching ranks, Underwood has finally made it here in March Madness for the first time.

For Illinois, it's a new experience, too. The Illini last reached the national semifinals during their 2005 runner-up finish. The obstacle again will be getting past UConn (33-5).

But this looks like a very different matchup than this season's previous meeting with two more physical, more balanced and more experienced teams squaring off.

Huskies coach Dan Hurley has built his reputation on tough players eager to the dirty work and this group is more of the same.

Center Tarris Reed Jr. earned the East Region's Most Outstanding Player award by scoring 21.7 points and grabbing 13.5 rebounds in tourney wins over Furman, UCLA, Michigan State and Duke— including 31 points and 27 rebounds in Round 1.

Huskies Forward Alex Karaban already holds school records for most games played (149), most wins (125), most starts (148) and most 3-pointers (288) and now needs two more tourney wins to push his March Madness career mark to 19-1. That would send him past Hurley's brother, Bobby, for second all-time in NCAA tourney wins.

“Defense and rebounding, that's really been our calling card,” Karaban said as he chases a rare third title. “Every time we've had success or won championships, that's what our calling card has been.”

And, of course, UConn would not be playing at Lucas Oil Stadium without a remarkable 19-point rally and Brayton Mullins' miraculous 35-foot, 3-pointer to beat top-seeded Duke 73-72 last Sunday. Mullins is now playing just 37 minutes away from his hometown — Greenfield, Indiana.

Hurley, too, is chasing milestones. He needs one victory for career win No. 350, two for his 200th win at UConn, giving him his third national title in four years and the Huskies their seventh crown since 1999.

Just don't get fooled by what happened in November.

Mullins entered his college debut on a 10-minute restriction because of an early-season injury that forced him to miss UConn's first six games. Now he's playing in front of a home-state crowd that will include his family and perhaps a large contingent of local residents clad in UConn gear.

“I told him last night, I was like ‘Look, man, it’s time to get ready for Illinois," Mullins' father, Josh, told The Associated Press during Friday's open practice at the 72,500-seat football stadium turned basketball arena. “Just enjoy the hell out of the time we have right here. It's pretty awesome.”

Illinois is different, too. Guard Keaton Wagler, a second-team All-American, was just starting to emerge as a scoring threat in November. Today, he's the Illini's leading scorer (17.9 points) and the South Region MOP.

In November, forward Jake Davis was still coming off the bench and guard Andrej Stojakovic was still trying to find his groove. Davis now starts, Stojakovic's big plays off the bench have played a key role in fueling Illinois' tourney run and the 7-foot Ivisic twins, Tomislav and Zvonimir, have provided a needed physical presence.

The result: Indiana steamrolled its way through four tourney games, beating Penn, VCU, Houston and surprise Elite Eight participant Iowa all by double-digit margins. The second-seeded Cougars, who won a regional in Indy last year before losing in the title game, even were playing in Houston.

Now it's time for Underwood & Co. to prove they have what it takes to contend with the always sturdy Huskies, with a chance to erase the bleak memories from the previous matchups by reaching the school's second title game in front of what is expected to be a large contingent of orange-clad fans making the two-hour drive to Indy.

“I think from the game two years ago, it's a clean slate,” Stojakovic said. “But we're not really worried about that game. Obviously, we've gotten better (since November), had some guys return from injuries — both sides.”

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

Illinois' Zvonimir Ivisic signs autographs during practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against UConn at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

UConn players run drills during practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Illinois' Brandon Lee (1) knocks the ball away from teammate Keaton Wagler, right, during practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against UConn at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Illinois' Tomislav Ivisic takes a selfie with a fan following practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against UConn at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood waves during practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against UConn at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Hughes held the ball in his hands, occasionally tossing his latest souvenir in the air.

Hughes had done “Saturday Night Live” and cherished the chance to chat with Lorne Michaels, then appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” as part of the victory lap for the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning men’s and women’s hockey teams. It only got better Friday when Hughes and women's goaltender Aerin Frankel threw out ceremonial first pitches at Yankee Stadium before the New York Yankees' home opener against the Miami Marlins.

“I knew a lot of things were coming, but this was the one thing I was always like wishing-slash-hoping for,” Hughes said. "Just so much fun. For both of us, it’s unreal."

Hughes scored in overtime in the men's final at the Milan Cortina Games, a few days after Frankel backstopped the women's team to also beating Canada for gold. It's the first time the U.S. has won double gold in the sport at the Olympics, and the sled hockey team made it a clean sweep at the Paralympics.

Frankel said her life hasn't changed much since other than seeing the impact the physical gold medal has on people who had never seen one.

“It’s cool to see how special that is for them,” said Frankel, who plays for the PHWL's Boston Fleet. “We’ve been super busy jumping back into pro seasons and stuff and making time for really cool opportunities like this.”

Frankel is from Westchester County and grew up in a family of Yankees fans. Hughes has become one over the seven years he has been in the area as the face of the franchise for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

Hughes played some baseball growing up, but needed to get his right throwing arm warmed up.

“We played in Dallas last week and my trainer ‘Frosty’ (Chris Scoppetto) brought gloves and I threw like 50 pitches right before morning skate,” Hughes said. “My shoulder was so sore, so I was like, ‘We’ve got to cool it.'”

Hughes' shoulder was fine. He scored twice that night against the Stars and had a five-point game Thursday night on the eve of his big baseball day.

Less than 24 hours after making 22 saves in a 3-0 shutout win over Winnipeg and U.S. Olympic starter Connor Hellebuyck, Oettinger threw a strike on his pitch from the top of the mound before the Texas Rangers' home opener. He got a loud ovation, with chants of “U-S-A!” when he was introduced.

That came after the national anthem, during which Rangers fans, like those at Stars games, yelled “Stars!” at both times that phrase came up in the song.

Oettinger wore his U.S. jersey and gold medal that everybody wants to see. Like Frankel, he said the coolest part to him is letting “other people wear it or take pictures with it and how excited they get. ... It just shows you how big the Olympics are. I think when you’re over there playing in it, you don’t really realize the magnitude, and then you get back and see how much it means to everyone is the best part.”

Oettinger, who played baseball until he was about 12, said he threw some Thursday with his younger brother, Thomas, who soon will turn 12. His brother was with him on the field and when they met former president George W. Bush, the former Rangers owner who was also at the game

“Brought my little brother and I got to take him through the clubhouse, and just a first-class organization,” Oettinger said. “Got to meet President Bush, so it has been a great day.”

A little over six weeks since scoring the tying goal late in the gold-medal game on a deflection of captain Hilary Knight's shot, Cleveland Heights' Laila Edwards got a rousing ovation for her first pitch from the mound over the plate before the Guardians' home opener.

“It’s so exciting, especially growing up and being a fan of Cleveland baseball,” Edwards said. “I played baseball in the backyard with my brother. He’s jealous, but I have to make him proud.”

Edwards, who's 22 and considered Knight's successor as the face of women's hockey in the U.S., has done a lot of winning so far this year. She helped Wisconsin to the second of back-to-back national titles, an experience she called surreal.

“I’m having so much fun and being grateful,” Edwards said. “We got back from the Olympics and three days later we were starting NCAA playoffs, so there was no rest there. That’s what we signed up for. And then to be able to win and meant everything."

AP Baseball Writer Stephen Hawkins in Arlington, Texas, and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Olympic gold medal hockey player Laila Edwards throws out a ceremonial first pitch before an opening day baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger throws a ceremonial first pitch prior to the Texas Rangers' home-opener baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

New Jersey Devils' Jack Hughes looks on during batting practice before his ceremonial first pitch for the home-opener baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New Jersey Devils' Jack Hughes practices ahead of his first pitch before a home-opener baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)