Brad Underwood, the coach of Illinois, was ready. After his team's hard-fought 72-69 win over Iowa State in the Sweet 16, he knew what to expect in the postgame locker room. And he outdid his own players.
Underwood's team waited to surprise him with mini water guns in their locker room. Then the coach appeared shirtless with goggles and a bigger water gun to soak his players.
The Fighting Illini's locker room turned into a party as they celebrated their first Elite Eight appearance since 2005 in a stylish manner. But the celebration was short-lived.
To reach the Final Four, Illinois must face the No. 1 team in the country, UConn. Illinois will play UConn at the Garden on Saturday night. The Illini will have to figure out a way to beat a Huskies team that just defeated San Diego State by 30 points and seems nearly unstoppable in their pursuit of a second consecutive national championship.
Underwood stated, 'We didn't come here to win one game. We came here to win two. Advancing to the Elite Eight is special, and we have a great challenge. We'll analyze them at around 3 a.m. when we get back.'
Underwood made these comments shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday morning. He allowed himself and his team to enjoy their Sweet 16 victory, at least for a short time.
The Illini, who were ranked as the nation's top offense at times this season, had to tough it out to defeat the Cyclones. Star guard Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points to lead them to victory, but his team had to overcome his absence at a critical point to pull off the win.
Shannon got his fourth foul with 11:17 remaining and had to leave the game due to foul trouble. Illinois was leading by eight at the time, and Iowa State managed to cut the lead to two at two different times. However, the Illini held firm. Coleman Hawkins and Marcus Domask made crucial plays, and Illinois' defense, not known for being strong recently, kept the Cyclones from scoring for almost four minutes as they weathered the storm without Shannon.
Underwood said, 'We have a saying in our program that offense wins games, defense wins championships, and these guys are all mature, old, they've been through it and understood.'
Underwood mentioned that he struggled with when to bring Shannon back in. He was tempted to wait until the under-four timeout, but he felt some urgency given the stage they were on. With 5:38 remaining, he put his star player back in, and soon after, Iowa State closed the gap to two points with a 3-pointer from Curtis Jones. However, Shannon responded immediately with a corner 3-pointer.
Underwood said, 'You're in the Sweet 16, so you have to stick with your key players.'
Illinois held on, and Shannon's steal and breakaway dunk, followed by a loud scream for the crowd, sealed the victory with 24 seconds left.
Next up is UConn, but the Illini are not necessarily feeling intimidated by their strong opponent. The Huskies are initially favored by 7.5 points.
“I have a greater respect for them. I believe it’s a higher level of respect,” Hawkins said. “I think they've been performing exceptionally well all year. I think they're well-coached, and they do what they do.”
Added Domask: “I really respect them and what they've accomplished. We've played a lot of college basketball. I've played a lot of teams that are expected to defeat us, if you say they're expected to defeat us. We'll figure out how to defend them and how to score on us, but they have to do the same for us. It's just another game for us really.”
