BOSTON — The UConn men continued to relentlessly dominate, scoring 30 consecutive points against the Big Ten champions. Overwhelming Illinois and forcing them to submit.
And the an older comedian sitting behind the scorer’s table had seen enough. He exclaimed, "That's it. I've had enough."
“You can stop coaching, the game’s over,” shouted Larry David from his seat behind the scorers table. “ Dan Hurley from his spot behind the scorers table. “Stop coaching!”
Later, the 76-year-old star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm, yelled, “Shame on you, Hurley. Take the starters out.”
Illini-lated: UConn storms past Illinois 77-52, will meet Alabama in Final Four
This moment encapsulates the historic excellence and sheer absurdity of what we are witnessing. Dan Hurley being heckled by Larry David, who's known for his irascible nature and was in Boston for a live performance this week. in Boston for a live performance this week, got up and left with a few minutes to go, before Hurley did empty his bench.
Too bad he didn’t stay and heckle Hurley after the game. What could’ve gone wrong?
“Wow. I’m like the Larry David of college coaching with my antics and idiosyncrasies,” Hurley said, laughing. “So I’m disappointed. … No, Curb Your Enthusiasm, that’s a good show.”
UConn is advancing to the Final Four, and it has been renewed for another season.inal episode of Curb, scheduled for Sunday. The Huskies, after the 77-52 victory Saturday in the East Regional final at TD Garden, are headed for Phoenix, two wins away from repeating as national champions.
However, what is currently transpiring on the court is no comedy show, despite the NCAA Tournament resembling one lopsided matchup after another.
“It’s a special level of basketball we were playing,” Hurley said.
Consider this. A 30-0 run. Illinois, the runner-up in the Big 10, victor in the conference tournament, with a previous win over Purdue, had rallied from a 9-0 deficit to tie the game at 23 with 1:49 left in the half.
“We play every possession like it’s our last,” Alex Karaban said. “We don’t care what the score is, what we’re doing, we want to continue to go, go, go. We thought we could break them, we thought we could demoralize them. It really affects a team when we go on a run like that.”
Looking like the Illinois HC may get his prediction “I don’t care if he blocks 100, we are going after him”. @clingan_donovan is absolutely DOMINATING!!!
— Jim Mora (@CoachJimMoraFB) March 30, 2024
Very few teams, players, ever go on a run like that. UConn was 0-for-10 on 3-pointers before Hassan Diarra hit one to put the Huskies back in the lead, and start the avalanche. Tristen Newton made a couple of free throws to make it 28-23 at the half.
While the Huskies were missing shots they usually make, Illinois was stifled by UConn’s defense. Then Brad Underwood, an experienced, respected coach, made his own stab at comedy. “We’re going to keep going at (Donovan Clingan),” he told sideline reporter Andy Katz. “If he blocks 100, he blocks 100.”
Illinois went 0 for 19 on shots contested by Clingan and for a while, it looked like they’d go 0 for the second half. They stayed at 23, UConn started hitting shots and before long the lead was 10, 20, 30.
“It’s like a train going down the track as fast as it can and it’s unstoppable,” Diarra said. “It’s happening pretty fast, and you’re just like in the moment. Let’s keep our foot on the throttle and after the fact, we’re just like, ‘man, this team is really special and we have to enjoy it like we can.”
UConn women grind past Duke, 53-45, to set up Elite 8 meeting with top seed USC
With the score 53-23, Illinois ended its 9-minute scoring drought, and Larry David was right. The game was over, but if he thought Hurley would stop coaching, well, just what was he thinking? Hurley was still reminding his team about various comments he’d heard from Illinois and pundits the day before, that they’d seen everything in the Big 10, yada, yada, yada.
“I think we were up 30 and Coach said, ‘remember what these guys were saying yesterday? We’ve got to go put them away,’” said Clingan, who finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, dominating a game in which Newton and Stephon Castle were a combined 1 for 12 and the team was 3 for 17 on threes.
“Everybody’s super connected,” Castle said, “Everybody’s having fun, everybody’s throwing down dunks. I mean, it’s just super fun. We work to get to this point and to have that kind of fun on the court, it means our work is paying off.”
No team has emerged in this tournament that can stop all of UConn’s weapons on any given night. The Huskies have dispensed with No. 3 seed Illinois, No. 5 San Diego State, No. 9 Northwestern as easily as they did No. 16 Stetson in the first round. They’ve trailed a total of 28 seconds in the four games.
They’ve achieved at a level that must seem amazing even to them, whether they admit it or not. They’ve achieved a level a fan of sports must admire, even if a certain curmudgeonly comic would rather they call off the dogs a little sooner than they do.
“When we walk out of here, we look at each other and say, ‘how have we done this in this tournament?’” Hurley said. “Nine straight relatively non-competitive games. But we’re relentless, as coaches, we coach every possession, we have incredibly competitive players and we have incredible respect for our opponents. We know that when you have somebody down, you better beat them down, you better break ’em. We just don’t want to let a team hang around in a game.”
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