For the second straight season, the UConn Huskies are heading to the Final Four as the team looks to be the first back-to-back champion in men’s college basketball since the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007.
UConn steamrolled the Illinois Fighting Illini, 77-52, in Saturday’s Elite Eight meeting in Boston to cut down the nets and head to Phoenix next week where they’ll face the Alabama Crimson Tide.
After the game, UConn head coach Dan Hurley called out what he felt was an “asinine” tweet made by former Illinois shooting guard and current ESPN analyst Sean Harrington. who tweeted Thursday that UConn hadn’t seen a player like Illinois’ Terrance Shannon Jr, and that the Huskies would have no answer for the senior guard. Hurley took offense to that comment, seeing it as a slight against the Big East.
Illini to the Elite 8. Defense stepped up tonight. Illini were the more physical team. Iowa State didn’t get any easy buckets. TSJ was the best player on the floor again. And TSJ will be the best player on the floor Saturday. UCONN doesn’t have a good answer for him.
— Sean Harrington (@smharrington24) March 29, 2024
Dan Hurley references former Illinois player Sean Harrington's comments about UConn not having seen a player like Terrence Shannon:
"Statements like that are asinine. You're going against beasts and monsters every night in the Big East." pic.twitter.com/2pTXAJ3cML
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) March 31, 2024
“The Big East is a monster. Iron sharpens iron. The league prepares us for these non-conference games. I read a tweet last night from a former Illinois player, Sean Harrington, he was a good player. It was something like ‘UConn has never had to play against this physical of team and has never seen someone like Terrance Shannon Jr.’ or something along those lines. Statements like that are just asinine. You’re going against beasts and monsters every night in the Big East. Sorry if I misquoted him on that, but that’s what I took from it,” Hurley explained in his postgame press conference.
Shannon finished with a season-low eight points on just 2-12 shooting.
UConn has now won an NCAA-record 10 straight NCAA Tournament games by 13 or more points, so Hurley may have a point about the Big East getting the team battle-ready.
