MILWAUKEE — Is it that point already?
Time to say a complete bunch of goodbyes?
Alas, it appears so. Illinois can say goodbye to its season after the Midwest Area’s No. 6 seed bought owned by No. 3 seed Kentucky 84-75 in an NCAA Match second-round smack-around at Fiserv Discussion board.
The ultimate file — 22-13 — is just not that dangerous however actually not all that nice. A totally turned-over Illini roster had some memorable moments in the course of the season, however matching the consistency of final yr’s Elite Eight squad merely by no means occurred. Let’s fee the whole exercise as a mild success.
However again to the goodbyes, which, this time of yr, typically contain tears that simply gained’t cease flowing. And in a big change for the Illini and coach Brad Underwood, they contain a pair of freshman guards extensively anticipated to go the one-and-done route. Lithuanian Kasparas Jakucionis has been a lottery decide on draft boards for many of the season. Canadian Will Riley has steadily climbed and initiatives as a first-rounder.
Each sat within the locker room after the sport feeling terrible about how they’d simply performed. Level guard Jakucionis missed seven of 9 three-point makes an attempt, had solely two assists and turned the ball over six instances — extremely, the fourth sport in a row he completed with precisely that many.
“I’m unhappy,” he mentioned. “I’m mad at myself that I let the workforce down as we speak.”
Illinois bought its hooks within the 18-year-old greater than he thought it will, particularly on the emotional entrance.
“I didn’t assume I’d take pleasure in it [this] a lot,” he mentioned. “I didn’t assume there can be good folks that I’d love and that it is going to be my household right here.”
However he has to go, doesn’t he? Who turns down a lottery shot?
“I don’t know if it was the final sport or not,” he mentioned.
After starring within the first spherical in opposition to Xavier, Riley contributed solely 5 factors on 1-for-7 taking pictures. Almost half an hour after the sport, he was nonetheless wiping his eyes.
“It’s horrible, particularly understanding I may’ve accomplished higher for the workforce,” he mentioned. “It hurts so much, however I’m going to maneuver previous it.”
What occurs now?
“I haven’t been enthusiastic about that,” he mentioned. “Our season simply ended.”
The Illini dug themselves into a big early gap, with Jakucionis having half of the workforce’s eight turnovers by the point it was 25-13 in favor of the Wildcats (24-11). However then the Illini went turnover-free for the final eight-plus minutes of the primary half, controlling that section of the sport with a 19-12 cost. See how that works? Worth the basketball.
Their second-half begin was much more dreadful. Seemingly low on vitality — inexplicable in March — the Illini watched Kentucky storm 10-0 pout of the chute, punctuated by 7-footer Amari Williams’ steal of a lazy Riley go and gigantic throw-down on the different finish. Two minutes later, Williams blocked Tomislav Ivisic’s three-point try, once more dribbled all the best way to the rim and once more dunked thunderously for a 53-39 lead. What a sight.
Kentucky’s lead reached 16 with 14:49 to go, however the Illini lower it to 9 three minutes in a while a Jakucionis three. That’s when the Wildcats’ 44% three-point shooter, Koby Brea, bought going, and that was basically all she wrote. Brea completed 23 factors.
There was somewhat little bit of dangerous luck, too, for the Illini. Wildcats guard Lamont Butler got here in with precisely one three-pointer made since February 1. So what did he do within the early going of crucial sport of the season up to now? Splash in a pair of threes. In fact.
The Wildcats bought what they deserved, although, and that’s a visit to Indianapolis to tackle SEC rival Tennessee within the Candy 16.
Three-Dot Sprint
• AND WHAT ABOUT IVISIC? The 7-1 Illini sophomore performed extraordinarily properly within the match and — this being 2025 – can have choices, too. He’s too expert to not get an NBA shot finally, and different colleges actually can wave baggage of cash at him.
“I nonetheless don’t know what’s going to occur subsequent yr,” he mentioned. “The one factor I can say is I actually prefer it right here, I loved it right here and I wish to keep for subsequent yr, however I can’t [guarantee] that as a result of I don’t know what’s going to occur.” …
• FLORIDA 77, UCONN 75 WAS the sport this match was ready for. All the weather of a match traditional had been there Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. The eighth-seeded Huskies — winners of the final two nationwide titles — went in as underdogs however dictated the texture of the sport a lot in order that the top-seeded Gators needed to tackle the function of big killers. After which Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. delivered a sensational closing effort, hitting a number of daggers down the stretch. Peak pleasure. …
• THE SWEET 16 WILL GO ON with out the Large East, and that’ll be a wierd feeling. UConn’s presence the final two years loomed so giant, simply as Villanova’s did in current championship seasons earlier than that. That was imagined to be St. John’s and a triumphant Rick Pitino this time, however Arkansas nipped that within the bud. …
• HOUSTON WAS MY TITLE PICK moving into, and the Cougars stay in glorious place, however Florida’s path to the Closing 4 appears as wide-open as Alligator Alley within the wee hours now that UConn is out and St. John’s crashed and burned. …
• THE FIRST TIME SEAN MILLER left Xavier for a glitzier teaching job, at Arizona in 2009, it was comprehensible. However after shedding to Illinois within the first spherical, Miller is ditching Xavier once more, this time for Texas — the workforce the Musketeers occurred to beat within the First 4 — and it’s a crass transfer. Xavier threw Miller a profession lifeline after Arizona fired him amid a bushel of costs of Degree I violations in recruiting. Loyalty? By no means. On to the following.
