Illinois head coach Brad Underwood on Saturday remained steadfast with his team’s strategy against UConn. Underwood’s game plan did not exactly work to perfection.
Illinois had their NCAA Tournament run cut short in the Elite Eight after a 77-52 blowout loss against UConn at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
The Fighting Illini made it a point of emphasis throughout the contest to attack Huskies center Donovan Clingan in the paint. Illinois found little success challenging Clingan early in the first half. The team missed a handful of layups and saw several of their shots swatted away.
CLINGAN STUFFS HIM AT THE RIM 😤#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/yKqpDpFLQJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 30, 2024
Despite the team’s struggles at the rim, Underwood said in an in-game interview that Illinois would keep “going at” Clingan.
“We’re going to keep going at [Donovan Clingan]. If he blocks a hundred, he blocks a hundred. We’re not backing down. We’re going to do what we do.”
"If he blocks 100 he blocks 100"
Famous last words pic.twitter.com/RcXHIRgxN7
— Ryan Cassidy (@ryancassidycbb) March 30, 2024
"If he blocks 100 shots, he blocks 100 shots." -Brad Underwood mere moments before Donovan Clingan did, in fact, block 100 shots https://t.co/1BodAreMmv
— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) March 30, 2024
Clingan did not block a hundred shots. But with the way he protected the rim all game, it must have felt like a hundred to the Fighting Illini faithful. The UConn center finished with five blocks to go along with his 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Illinois was outscored 52-20 in the paint in large part due to Clingan’s rim protection. The Illini shot just 17/67 (25.4%) from the field.
Perhaps Underwood preparing any sort of plan B could have prevented the insane 30-0 UConn run that had buried Illinois.
