March Madness: Illini Sweet 16-bound after mauling Duquesne 89-63

OMAHA, Neb. — A day before stepping out on the floor for the beginning of Illinois’ fourth consecutive Big Dance, coach Brad Underwood almost said it all.

“There’s nothing better than the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “There’s nothing better than hearing your name called on Selection Sunday.”

Isn’t there, though?

Oh, yes, indeed — after the No. 3-seeded Illini’s 89-63 second-round blowout of No. 11 seed Duquesne, we can think of one thing a whole lot better and so much sweeter.

The Illini (28-8) are Boston-bound for their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005. It has been a long time coming.

This one was all but in the books long before halftime. Fall into a hole for the fifth game in a row, like they did every step en route to the Big Ten tournament title in Minneapolis and in the first round against Morehead State here at the CHI Health Center arena? Not a chance.

Instead, Marcus Domask put a quick five points on the board. After his second basket, a three-pointer, he turned and gently blew a kiss to a section of Duquesne fans in the crowd. Next, it was Terrence Shannon Jr.’s turn to heat up. Nearly eight minutes in, Coleman Hawkins nailed one from the same spot Domask had and far more demonstratively blew a kiss at the Duquesne fans, some of whom responded by gesturing with the official bird of Pittsburgh. A mere 39 seconds later, Hawkins hit another. And two minutes after that, a third to make it 30-11.

Not to be overly dramatic, but it was the half Illini fans have been yearning for. No drama, just 50 points of easy scoring ability and sheer delight. Shannon was motoring, with 14 at the break. Domask got wherever he wanted, scoring 13. Hawkins had 11, and all Illini fans know that when he’s playing well and feeling it, this group can be electric. Dain Dainja rocked the rim with dunks that had to make the Dukes (25-12) shudder just a bit. There were little pieces of good stuff everywhere and from everybody, a big, physical team imposing its gifts on an opponent that had no chance to save itself.

Shannon dunked on a break to get the Illini to 50 and fell into a cluster of photographers. He just sat there awhile and smiled while they clicked away to capture the moment.

And what a moment this is for Illinois basketball — and for Underwood. It took him eight tries as a tournament coach, three of them at Stephen F. Austin and one at Oklahoma State, to get a team through to the second weekend.

The next game — against No. 2 seed Iowa State — will be awfully hard to win. The Cyclones are exceptional defensively and tough as nails, and all one really needs to hear about them to be impressed is that they destroyed Houston 69-41 in the Big 12 championship game.

But the Cyclones will have their hands plenty full, too.

It’s a time for Illini fans to celebrate no matter how much they’re thirsting for more. And it’s a time to recognize just how successful Underwood, in his seventh season, has been. That means remembering where it started, with a 14-18 overall record and a 4-14 mark in the Big Ten in 2017-18, when there were lots of people wondering why Underwood was the coach to whom Illinois had hitched its wagon. When a pandemic eliminated the 2020 tournament, the Illini had just finished a game out of a first-place tie in the conference. A year after that, they won the league tournament and were a No. 1 NCAA seed. In 2022, they tied atop the league’s regular-season standings.

Don’t forget that Underwood took the men’s program to its first Big Dance since 2013 and has made them a regular — one of only 14 schools in the country and three in the Big Ten that can say they’ve been to four in a row.

And — finally — a Sweet 16. And then some? It’ll be a blast finding out.