More vulnerable this time, UConn keeps an incredible moment in the past

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Capital One Arena saw one of the most memorable moments in NCAA tournament history last Sunday in the East region of the Elite Eight. As UConn freshman Braylon Mullins sank the game-winning 35-foot 3-point shot, pandemonium erupted as the Huskies won 73-72.

UConn had done it. A 19-point Duke lead had been erased forever. The No.1-seeded Blue Devils had been eliminated, and Mullins was an instant hero.

But four days later, UConn coach Dan Hurley was not letting that magical shot distract his team going forward.

“The reality is that moment is over,” Hurley said Thursday. “It’s an incredible moment. You’ll have that moment for the rest of your life. But we came here for rings, not watches. Everyone that comes to the Final Four gets a beautiful watch, but only one group is going to get a ring.”

For the third time in four years, Dan Hurley’s team is playing for a spot in the national championship game. The Huskies seemingly dominated every matchup in their first two national championship runs, winning by average scores of 20 points in 2023 and 23.3 points in 2024, when UConn defeated its 2026 Final Four opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini, in the Elite Eight, 77-52.

The 2026 NCAA tournament has not been nearly as kind to the Huskies, when it comes to margin of victory. Through four games, Connecticut has won by an average score of 8 points, less than half of its margin of victory in the back-to-back championship seasons. Hurley spoke about the difficulties of building a championship roster after winning two national titles.

“Just the two years of losing all those incredible men, it was a down year for us in 2025,” Hurley said. “Across the board, I had a bad year coaching. I think we didn’t put together a great group. Maybe we were just feeling ourselves too much. Too much ego. But I know that we had an incredible summer, [that] set the stage for what we’ve been able to do here.”

The Final Four will not be the first time that the Huskies and the Fighting Illini have faced off this season. On Nov. 28, UConn defeated Illinois 74-61 in the SentinelOne Showdown in Madison Square Garden. Notably, star freshman guard Keaton Wagler played just 14 minutes against the Huskies, scoring only 3 points. Wagler’s impact since that November matchup has been nothing short of spectacular. Wagler has scored in double figures every game since then, including a 46-point explosion in Mackey Arena against Purdue.

On a team full of successful, little-known European players, Wagler’s story might be the most surprising. Ranked as the No. 143 overall recruit in the country according to 247Sports, the freshman’s impact has stretched far beyond expectations. Averaging 17.9 points, Wagler was recently named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and the USBWA. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and made the All-Big Ten first team. Wagler’s season has brought him from an unknown prospect to a potential NBA lottery pick.

On the international recruiting side, the Ivisic twins have been another bright spot for the Fighting Illini. A year after Tomislav Ivisic arrived in Champaign, his brother, Zvonimir Ivisic, decided to join him. Zvonimir originally committed to the University of Kentucky, moving to the United States one year before his brother. Zvonimir’s time in Lexington was challenging, as he was originally deemed ineligible due to issues surrounding his amateur status.

He remembered being told suddenly that he was cleared to play. “No signs of anything,” Xvonimir said. “I remember thinking, ‘Are we going to do this now, in the middle of the season?’ I started panicking.”

The following season, Tomislav committed to play for Brad Underwood at Illinois, but Zvonimir did not immediately follow. After coach John Calipari’s departure from Kentucky, Zvonimir followed him to Fayetteville to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks. One year later, Zvonimir transferred again, this time joining his brother Tomislav at Illinois. Underwood spoke about pairing up the twins this season.

“We talked to Tommy a lot when it became available that Z could come,” he said. “Tommy, obviously, was all in. He wanted to play with his brother. He was excited about it. Z was all on board with that. Their chemistry is unbelievable. Their competitiveness is unbelievable. They go at each other all the time. They’re very different people, even though they’re twins, and yet their synergy is really fun to see.”

The 2026 NCAA Tournament marks the first time that Underwood has reached the final weekend in his career. Underwood reflected on his team’s 2024 Elite Eight experience against UConn.

“We learned a lot from that game,” he said. “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 and what that looks like.

After a 23-23 scoring start in its Elite Eight matchup in 2024, UConn went on a 30-0 run, bringing the score to 53-23 in just nine minutes of play. The historic in-game run led the Huskies to an easy win over Illinois, securing the Huskies’ second-straight Final Four appearance.

Underwood joked with the media when asked about his memory of UConn’s historic run, “Thanks for the reminder, by the way,” he said.