What UConn Coach Dan Hurley Said About Illinois Before Final Four Showdown

The point has been driven home all week leading up to Illinois’ Final Four matchup with UConn: The late-November matchup between these two squads – a contest the Huskies largely dominated and ultimately won 74-61 – is going to resemble this April tangle in very few ways.

Both teams have grown immensely in a variety of ways as personnel shifts and slight schematic tweaks have been difference-makers for each. So what does UConn coach Dan Hurley see heading into the contest? Here’s what Hurley had to say about Illinois on Friday:

UConn head coach Dan Hurley previews Final Four showdown vs. Illinois

Hurley started with the element for Illinois that has changed most dramatically over the past few months: Keaton Wagler.

“Obviously has the ball in his hands a lot more,” Hurley said of Wagler, who played 14 minutes and scored just three points in the teams' initial matchup.

“Just a very aggressive scorer at the rim, from the three-point line. Great size. Just the vision, obviously, that their staff had and Brad [Underwood] had for the player in terms of just how he was recruited and what they saw. Guy is a really, really talented player. Obviously, we’re going to have to try to make him uncomfortable. We’ve got to make them uncomfortable because they’re such an excellent offensive team and offensive rebounding team.”

Wagler, who is averaging 17.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists, is now the heartbeat of this Illini team. But he wasn’t back in November. How he responds in this matchup – and the game plan Hurley rolls out to try to slow him – will be a key (if not the key) factor in this Final Four clash.

How Illinois’ recent defensive growth has caught Dan Hurley’s attention

“Illinois has the attributes to be really good on defense. They’ve got length, they’re smart, they’re physical. They’re one of the best-coached teams you’ll see – that you’ll play against – with Brad and his staff. They’ve just got an awesome staff.”

“What they do, which not a lot of people do – and we do – is they game-plan. They mix up their coverages. They don’t play the same defense every single game. They’re a program and a staff that game-plans, so you have to be prepared for multiple things. They’re not just going to guard you the way they guarded Houston. They’re going to look for things to take away.”

In Illinois’ past three tournament games – VCU, Houston and Iowa – there hasn’t been a better defensive team in the tournament, per Bart Torvik. Through the past three rounds, the Illini defense has done a 180 from the regular season using that size, length and IQ that Hurley nodded to.

But although Illinois has seen a pair of high-powered offenses (Houston and Iowa), it hasn’t seen the off-ball movement of UConn's offense. The Illini’s ability to communicate, battle through screens and stay attached to Huskies players will be of the utmost importance.

UConn’s Dan Hurley reveals the deciding factors vs. Illinois

“There’s going to be a shot-making component to this, like there always is," Hurley said. "That’s kind of a bailout, I guess, part of an answer. A lot of this comes down to turnover margin. Who takes better care of the basketball? For us, we’re looking at the rebounding like it’s World War III on the backboard because of how they assault you on the glass and how important rebounding is in terms of victory.

“Then I would say, for us, ball-screen defense. You can’t show them one ball-screen [defense]. You’ve got to have a Plan A, a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan D because so much of what they do is isolations, it’s ball-screen defense. You probably couldn’t play more different than we do at the offensive end of the court.

“We move around a lot more, and they attack you at elbows, at the key, at the low post. Who is more physical at those battle points – the block-outs, the screenings? Who is getting moved on screens and who is burying people on screens? That’s going to determine who wins.”

Two wildly contrasting offensive styles will feature in this Final Four showdown, as Hurley stated. But despite the aesthetic beauty of Hurley’s offense, his unit ranks just No. 26 in offensive efficiency on the season (per KenPom), while the Illini hold the No. 1 spot on that list.

But often those numbers go out of the window at this stage of the tournament. The game plan – and the subsequent in-game adjustments – can turn any contest on a dime.

Then, there’s the physicality aspect Hurley mentioned, which, despite his best efforts, the bigger and stronger Illini surely have the upper hand in.