The Illini have so many different ways it can generate paint touches because of its immaculate spacing and sharp matchup-hunting, including [Andrej] Stojakovic drives, [Keaton] Wagler in pick-and-rolls, [Kylan] Boswell attacking seams, [David] Mirkovic backdowns, Tomi Ivisic post-ups or Zvonimir Ivisic lobs. If UConn can’t defend the paint much better, it’s in scalding-hot water because Illinois isn’t making many mistakes these days. Illinois does not foul. Illinois does not turn it over, which breathed life into UConn’s rally against Duke. Illinois also offensive rebounds at an elite clip. That’s another area where the [Silas] Demary injury hurts UConn. He is the second-best rebounder in [Dan] Hurley’s starting lineup, and UConn’s quietly allowed its opponents to corral at least 33% of its misses 11 times this year. There are just too many easy buttons for Illinois’ elite half-court buttons to press. They’ll put [Braylon] Mullins into the action 24/7. They’ll poke at [Malachi] Smith whenever he subs in for Demary. They’ll drag [Tarris] Reed away from the rim to defend Ivisic’s pick-and-pop 3s and open up more driving lanes to the paint. It’s a hard matchup for UConn to offset all the paint touches that Illinois will generate because if UConn has to start bringing two to the ball, the Illini’s blend of plus passers have shredded that defensive gameplan all year. [Alex] Karaban, [Solo] Ball and Mullins need to go berserk from downtown, or UConn’s run ends in the Final Four.
