BOSTON — Dan Hurley walked to midfield on the final timeout during Connecticut’s dismantling of another team in March, providing a moment of celebration.
He spread his arms and shouted, encouraging the Huskies fans filling TD Garden to shout louder. There were still 3:33 left on the game clock, but the job was already done.
For the second year in a row, UConn returns to the Final Four. And for the second year in a row, the Huskies did it in dominant fashion.
What was a close game for 20 minutes turned into a demolition, as UConn pulled away from Illinois for a 77-52 victory in the Elite Eight that didn’t even seem that close. The Huskies used a 30-0 run — including 25 straight points to start the second half — to turn a tie game into a 53-23 laugh.
UConn’s 7-foot-2 big man Donovan Clingan was at center. He disrupted Illinois defensively and shook the rim offensively.
Clingan finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and three steals in just 22 minutes, but his impact went beyond the box score. There were altered shots and tipped rebounds. The fact that when he was on the field, Illinois — the second-most efficient offense in the country — couldn’t score.
In Clingan’s 11 minutes on the floor in the first half, Illinois scored four points. In its first 5:25 on the floor in the second half, the Illini did not score.
Clingan was also in the middle of the run that decided the game. After splitting two free throws to give the Huskies a 33-23 lead, Clingan met Illinois’ Quincy Guerrier at the rim, swatting away an emphatic dunk attempt.
On the other end of the court, he collected a pass from Stephon Castle and completed his own two-handed slam, meeting his teammates in front of the UConn bench for a shot to the chest as Illinois called a timeout .
UConn, which beat fifth-seeded San Diego State by 30 points on Thursday, advanced to the Final Four with four wins by an average margin of 27.8 points. It’s reminiscent of a year ago, when UConn won six NCAA Tournament games by double digits, including a 28-point victory over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.
Illinois, with its powerful offense, was considered one of the few teams capable of providing a challenge to the UConn machine. The Illini could score in multiple ways, and if their recently improved defense can hold up, they could finally be the team that forces the Huskies to sweat in the final minutes of March.
But by the time Illinois scored its first points of the second half — seven minutes, 19 seconds into a game that turned into a real runaway — it was abundantly clear : such a test should take place next week in Phoenix.
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(Photo: Winslow Townson / USA Today)