Is Hurley hubris a missing ingredient for Illini? No, but UConn coach is on a roll
Connecticut coach Danny Hurley sat down at the podium after beating Illinois on Saturday and decided to remind everyone where he's been.
“There's no better feeling than being on that bus on Monday night, just being one of the last two teams standing,” Hurley said. “That bus ride to the stadium is just a cool experience.”
What's that, Danny, you say you've taken that trip before? How interesting, tell us more.
Actually, Hurley also mentioned the Monday bus ride during his in-stadium interview, just in case anyone at Lucas Oil Stadium was not aware this will be his third title game in four years.
Whether it was the Hurley mystique or a bunch of veteran players getting it done, Connecticut executed both sides of its game plan better than Illinois did in the 71-62 national semifinal victory.
The Illini had plenty of chances. They withstood UConn's early run and rallied to take a 22-21 lead. Then came the Huskies' second run, and that was tough to overcome. Illinois trailed by 14 with 9:44 remaining, cut the deficit down to 4, but by that point, everything had to go perfectly.
One of the game's decisive plays summed this one up well. Down by 4, the Illini forced a Connecticut 3-point miss. Ben Humrichous had inside position for the defensive rebound, but a mix of unlucky bounce and better effort saw UConn's Silas Demery wrestle it away. That board led to a 3-pointer from Braylon Mullins that made it 66-59 with 52 seconds left.
Now UConn will gas up the bus and try to win its third title in four years on Monday. No team has been to three titles games in that short a time span since Duke played three in a row from 1990-92. Of course, that team was led by point guard Bobby Hurley, Danny's older brother.
That Duke squad with Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner wasn't the most likable group in NCAA history. Not to be outdone, Danny Hurley does his best to come across as supremely arrogant.
“You're coming into a game as an underdog versus a team you beat by 13 points earlier in the season, which was kind of surprising,” Hurley told his postgame audience. “That's how we kind of came into the game. Obviously, I've been waiting to say that, and now I forgot the question.”
No matter how hard he tries, Illinois coach Brad Underwood will never match that level of smugness. Maybe if he can bring the Illini back to the big event a few more times.
“We got Illinois back to a level where they're in the Final Fours again,” Underwood said. “By God, as long as I'm the ball coach, I better not take 21 damn years to get back there.”
To get Illinois over the top, it may take some older players. Connecticut had four guys who played at least a little in the 2024 title game. Center Tarris Reed is a senior, while Georgia transfer Demery is a junior.
Meanwhile, Keaton Wagler will likely become the Illini's third freshman first-round draft pick in the last two years. Experience has been winning recent NCAA Tournaments. The key is trying to create the best team possible without so many one-and-done future NBA players.
And obviously, no one in America had Wagler pegged as a 2026 lottery pick when he first arrived in Champaign.
Is some of that Hurley hubris a necessary ingredient? Probably not, but his attitude was looming large on Saturday. Here's a sample of two coaches quotes in the postgame interview room.
Underwood: “This team gave me joy, because they were about all the right things. If you want to put a contest together about good human beings, we'll win.”
Hurley: “We're a tough program. We're a group of fighters. It's not appealing to everyone. I'm sure there's some people in here that it's off-putting for. But we are a group of fighters. We're incredibly tough.
“For us it's not a game that we're just kind of running around in uniforms, throwing the ball around, hoping it goes in. We're fighting. It's a life-and-death struggle to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship.”
Fair enough. Danny Hurley, you are officially king of the world. At least until Monday.