BOSTON — Terrence Shannon Jr. picked up his fourth foul with 11:17 left within the NCAA males’s event East Area semifinal, sending Illinois’ senior star to the bench with the No. 3 Illini holding a 51-42 lead in opposition to No. 2 Iowa State. The Cyclones had trimmed that edge to 55-51 when he returned with 5:38 left, benefiting from Shannon’s absence to inch nearer to the Large Ten event champions.
“We simply needed to step up,” stated senior ahead Quincy Guerrier. “All people needed to step up. We didn’t take into consideration something. We had been simply within the move of the sport.”
Thirty seconds later, Shannon swished a 3-pointer from the fitting nook to make it 59-54. He’d rating one other six factors down the stretch, together with an exclamation-point slam to make it 70-64 with 24 seconds left, as Illinois gained 72-69 to ebook a matchup with No. 1 Connecticut on Saturday within the East Area ultimate.
In half-hour of motion sandwiched round his prolonged stint on the bench, Shannon poured in 29 factors on 10 of 19 capturing, together with 5 rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
“Individuals who know Terrence know what a fantastic, nice competitor he’s and the way he likes to win,” coach Brad Underwood stated. “To try this chilly reveals he stayed within the recreation mentally. He was all the time cheering and excited within the time-outs and on the bench. He was dialed in mentally, and that is not a simple factor to do, to step in and bury a 3. It was a giant one.”
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, groups and extra.
He’s probably the most polarizing participant nonetheless competing on this 12 months’s NCAA males’s event: Shannon was suspended by the college in December after being arrested and charged with rape, a suspension that was reversed after six video games by a federal decide who dominated that Illinois had violated Shannon’s civil rights. On the recommendation of his authorized counsel, Shannon has not spoken to the media throughout the event.
Towards the backdrop of a case that has threatened to engulf Illinois’ first Elite Eight berth since reaching the nationwide championship recreation in 2005, Shannon has elevated his recreation to a degree that locations him among the many high gamers in program historical past.
He’s scored in double figures in 41 consecutive video games. He’s scored at the least 20 factors 21 occasions this season, a brand new Illinois report. Shannon is the primary participant in program historical past to attain at the least 25 factors in three event video games in a row – he had 26 in opposition to No. 14 Morehead State and 30 in opposition to No. 11 Duquesne – to offer him 85 factors by three video games, the fourth-most by an Illinois participant in a single event; each different participant ranked within the faculty’s high 10 performed at the least 4 event video games.
On his first basket of the sport, Shannon grew to become the primary Illinois participant to attain 700 factors in a season. General, Shannon has scored 20 or extra factors in seven video games in a row to spice up his common to 23.5 factors per recreation, the fourth-best single-season mark at school historical past,
“He’s superb,” senior guard Justin Harmon stated. “That’s what’s anticipated from him.”
With him sidelined with foul bother, Illinois turned to senior ahead Coleman Hawkins, the one different participant in double figures with 12 factors, and continued a surge in defensive manufacturing that started following a 77-71 loss to Purdue earlier this month. The Illini have held three opponents in a row underneath 70 factors for the primary time since November.
“Now we have a saying in our program that offense wins video games, protection wins championships, and these guys are all mature, outdated, they have been by it and understood,” stated Underwood. “Tonight we did that, and we’ll must proceed to try this to maintain taking part in.”
Illinois will proceed to lean closely on Shannon’s scorching hand in opposition to Connecticut, an opponent with the size and depth to throw waves of elite athletes in his path and drive the Illini to look elsewhere for manufacturing. That the offense needed to grind out possessions in his absence in opposition to the Cyclones speaks to the inherent problem behind changing one of many elite scorers within the nation.
Gamers and coaches appeared on the optimistic: Illinois stepped up when it counted with Shannon a bystander, doing simply sufficient on each ends to maintain Iowa State at bay and ship this system’s largest postseason win in practically twenty years.
“I cherished our resiliency taking part in by these moments particularly with out (Shannon) on the courtroom,” Underwood stated. “We made performs after we needed to down the stretch. We received a few stops after we needed to.”
However with the defending nationwide champions looming, it’s apparent that the Illini will go solely so far as Shannon can carry them. It’s additionally changing into an increasing number of apparent that no group − not even the large, unhealthy Huskies − will have the ability to maintain the senior All-America decide underneath wraps.
“He’s only a canine on the market,” Guerrier stated. “He’s the most effective gamers within the nation. You’ll be able to’t cease him.”