The Huskies went into halftime leading 37-29 behind the two-man game of Reed and Mullins, who posted a combined 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. After making his only 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in the Elite Eight win against Duke, Mullins went 3 of 5 from deep in the first half.

Illinois was led by Wagler, who had 10 points and 6 rebounds at the break. Wagler also committed the only two turnovers of the opening half by either team. UConn and Illinois shot a combined 24 of 63 at the break and were 10 of 32 from 3-point range.

The Huskies’ lead would grow to 13 points at 49-36 on a pair of Alex Karaban free throws five minutes into the second half. The Illini would get back within single digits at 49-40 with 12:56 to play but UConn answered with an 8-3 run capped by a Jaylin Stewart corner 3 to go in front 57-43 with 9:24 left.

Illinois would have another response. With UConn in foul trouble after picking up its 10th team foul with 8:03 remaining, the Illini made it 57-51 a minute later on a pair of Ivicic free throws and then 57-53 on an Andrej Stojakovic layup with five minutes to play.

After Wagler scored on a driving layup with 1:39 left to make it 63-59, Mullins would make a crucial 3 from the wing to put the Huskies in from 66-59 with 52 seconds to play. They’d make five of six from the line in the final 37 seconds to seal the win.

UConn is chasing its seventh national championship and third in four years after going back-to-back in 2023-24. A seventh title would break a tie with Duke and bump the Huskies into third in NCAA history behind UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UConn basketball beats Illinois in Final Four, will play for national title