March Madness Sweet 16 analysis: Shannon leads Illini to first Elite Eight since ’05

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John Fanta

College Basketball Broadcaster and Reporter

Michael Cohen

College Football and College Basketball Writer

The 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament continued Thursday as the Sweet 16 got underway in Los Angeles and Boston.

No. 6-seeded Clemson kicked off the action with an impressive 77-72 victory over No. 2-seeded Arizona . Chase Hunter led the way with 18 points, while PJ Hall added 17 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

Meanwhile, top-seeded UConn followed with a dominant 82-52 win over No. 5-seeded San Diego State in Boston.

Later on, Grant Nelson led No. 4-seeded Alabama to an 89-87 upset win over No. 1-seeded North Carolina, while Terrence Shannon Jr. led No. 3-seeded Illinois to a 72-69 win over No. 2-seededIowa State.

FOX Sports’ college basketball experts, John Fanta and Michael Cohen, are here to provide instant analysis of Thursday’s games.

Catch up on all the action from the Sweet 16 here:

(3) Illinois 72, (2) Iowa State 69

You could feel the tension increase inside the Boston Garden from the fans in orange. With 11:17 on the clock, Terrence Shannon Jr. took a seat after committing his fourth foul. Keshon Gilbert drilled two free throws, the beginning of six straight points for T.J. Otzelberger’s team. Over the ensuing 5:39, the Cyclones kept climbing back within a bucket against Brad Underwood’s group, which was trying to piece it together with their leading scorer off the court.

But Illinois, one of the most experienced teams in the nation, showed its toughness. Marcus Domask notched a clutch and-1 to extend the lead back to five just before Shannon got back in. Once he did step back on the floor, he hit the first of a pair of back-to-back triples for the Illini. When the Cyclones were within four with less than a minute left, the Illinois fifth-year senior stole the ball on a Milan Momcilovic pass and slammed home a dagger that sent the Illini faithful into a frenzy.

Shannon and the Illini are heading to the Elite Eight with a 72-69 win over Iowa State, marking the program’s first appearance in a regional final since they went all the way to the national title game back in 2005, before falling to North Carolina.

After he had a temporary restraining order granted to him in January which allowed him to play, Shannon has returned and is the primary reason why this Illini team has achieved history. Nobody is scoring the ball at the rate he is for this team, averaging 30.3 points over the last seven games.

On a night where Domask was off his game, shooting just 2-for-11 from the field, and the Illini went 15-for-29 from the free-throw line, Shannon stepped up in a big way, and was too much for the No. 1 defense in the nation.

With the win Thursday night, Illinois moved to 2-8 all-time against No. 1 and 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The victory books Underwood’s team for a Saturday date with UConn in the East Regional Final at 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS and truTV.

It will mark just the fourth all-time meeting between the Illini and Huskies, and the first since 1994.

– John Fanta

(4) Alabama 89, (1) North Carolina 87

Off to the races.

From the moment Thursday’s game between No. 1 North Carolina and No. 4 Alabama tipped off at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the battle for a spot in the Elite Eight resembled a track meet. Up and down the floor the Tar Heels and Crimson Tide raced, with the former ranked 41st nationally in tempo and the latter ranked eighth, eager as ever to push the pace to the brink. They traded transition opportunities and easy baskets in the paint, points off turnovers and unconscionable 3-pointers. The only thing that separated these teams over the first 20 minutes was a late 11-2 run from North Carolina that led to an eight-point lead.

When the halftime buzzer finally sounded — by which time 100 combined points had been scored — there were six players who had made at least two 3-pointers. Rylan Griffen of Alabama and Cormac Ryan from North Carolina buried four triples each.

The adrenaline rush that fueled such freneticism quickly faded after the break as both teams, and both coaching staffs, mercifully caught their breath. What was once a shootout of the NBA variety slowly devolved into a battle of attrition, one critical possession after another. A clutch 3-pointer from Alabama’s Aaron Estrada on the right wing tied the game with a little more than five minutes remaining. What unfolded was an instant classic that featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes.

And it was in the waning moments when Grant Nelson, a North Dakota State transfer in his first season with the Crimson Tide, became an NCAA Tournament legend. A personal 7-0 run from Nelson (team-high 24 points) pushed Alabama in front. Then he silenced a responsive 6-0 run from North Carolina’s RJ Davis with a traditional three-point play at one end and an emphatic block at the other. He punctuated the 89-87 win by blocking a desperation heave from Harrison Ingram with less than a second remaining.

The win nudged Alabama into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004 and just the second time in program history. The Crimson Tide will face No. 6 Clemson for a spot in the Final Four.

– Michael Cohen

(1) UConn 82, (5) San Diego State 52

After beating Yale to advance to the Sweet 16, San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher called the NCAA Tournament the “UConn Invitational.”

“Let’s see if we can disrupt the party a little bit,” said Dutcher, who has led the Aztecs to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances and last year’s title game against the Huskies.

Well, San Diego State might have disrupted Connecticut a little bit more than others for at least a half, being within nine points of the reigning champs at the break, but they were no match for Dan Hurley’s team as the night went on in Boston.

UConn outscored San Diego State 42-21 in the second half to blow out the Aztecs in the national championship game rematch, 82-52.

Simply put, this program keeps rewriting its own history. For a third straight game, the Huskies broke an NCAA Tournament record, earning their ninth consecutive win in the Big Dance by at least 13 points. How did they do it on Thursday? By dominating an Aztecs team that ranked in the top-40 in rebounding margin on the glass. Connecticut held a 50-29 advantage in that category, while also holding a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint.

Cam Spencer started 6-for-9 in the game, ending up with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Tristen Newton tallied 17 points, seven rebounds and four dishes.

The revelation that continues to unveil itself in this tournament: Stephon Castle keeps building his NBA Draft stock. On Thursday, the Huskies’ star freshman showed his offensive arsenal in addition to his steady defense, going for 16 points and 11 rebounds.

With the victory, UConn moved to 40-3 in its last 43 games, and while Clemson supplied plenty of drama by knocking out Arizona on Thursday, there was no drama for Hurley’s team. The Huskies have continued to live up to being the favorite in this tournament.

– John Fanta

(6) Clemson 77, (2) Arizona 72

Given the nature of Clemson’s final two games before the NCAA Tournament, it seemed unlikely that defense would be what fueled the Tigers’ run to the Sweet 16. They had allowed 81 points in a loss to Wake Forest in the regular-season finale. Then they surrendered 76 to Boston College and flamed out of the ACC Tournament with a 76-55 defeat.

But somewhere between those two losses and the start of March Madness, head coach Brad Brownell found a way to flip the switch. His team smothered No. 11 New Mexico — a popular upset pick — during a 77-56 win in the opening round. The Tigers followed up by blanketing No. 3 Baylor, which owned the sixth-best offense in the country, for a 72-64 win. Thursday’s matchup with Arizona began in similar fashion: Clemson forced the Wildcats to commit eight first-half turnovers and turned them into 11 points. At the break, Clemson had allowed just 31 points to a team that averages 87.6 per game, third-most in the country, while building an eight-point lead.

An inevitable Arizona surge further tested the Tigers in the opening minutes of the second half, with each successive Clemson turnover producing basket after basket for the Wildcats in transition. Brownell’s team was called for so many fouls trying to defend the paint that Arizona entered the bonus with 11:55 remaining. There was even a fleeting moment when the Wildcats claimed a one-point lead when point guard Caleb Love pierced the left side of the lane.

Where the Tigers never wavered, however, was in their staunch defense of the 3-point line, demanding that Arizona chase them with slow trickles of ones and twos. They held Love, who was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, to 0-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. They limited Love’s backcourt partners, Pelle Larson and Kylan Boswell, to a pair of makes on 11 3-point attempts. As a team, the Wildcats finished 5-for 28 from deep.

Such a robust defensive effort gave Clemson a chance to seal it in the final minute, and senior guard Chase Hunter (team-high 18 points) answered the call. Hunter’s slicing drive produced a traditional three-point play with 25 seconds remaining to clinch a 77-72 win that propelled the Tigers into the Elite Eight for the first time since 1980 and just the second time overall. They’ll face the winner of No. 1 North Carolina and No. 4 Alabama for a chance to reach the Final Four.

– Michael Cohen

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John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.

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