UConn back in NCAA Final Four after rout of Illinois

UCONN 77 ILLINOIS 52

BOSTON — Thirty points in a row — that’s quite a run. The streak UConn is putting together this March is pretty impressive, too.

The defending NCAA champions scored 30 straight points to power their way back to the Final Four, steamrolling Illinois 77-52 on Saturday night — a March Madness record 10th straight double-digit victory for the top-seeded Huskies.

Donovan Clingan scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for UConn, which pulled away by scoring the first 25 points of the second half. The Huskies, who cruised to their fifth national title last year, seem inexorably headed for a sixth. Their NCAA Tournament wins this year have come by 39, 17, 30 and 25 points.

Actor Bill Murray, whose son, Luke, is a Huskies assistant coach, watched the game from a courtside seat and took video of the postgame celebration, where his grandchildren were showered with confetti. Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David was also part of a crowd the Huskies called “Storrs North” for the East Region games that were played 140 kilometres from campus.

UConn, which won the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden and advanced to the Sweet 16 in Brooklyn, will now get on a plane for the first time in almost a month and head to the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona.

It will face the West Region champion, either Alabama or Clemson.

The Huskies are the first defending champs to make it back to the national semifinals since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

That’s still a possibility for UConn, too.

“It’s not about really trying to win No. 6 or go back-to back,” coach Dan Hurley said.

“It’s this time of year, you love your team and you can’t imagine what it would be like to not get up the next day and still coach your team.

“It’s what you learn when you win the way we’ve won. It really is about the work, the journey, the process.”