Dan Hurley sauntered up to his postgame press conference with a half-smile on his face, knowing his team had just earned the right to play for their third national championship in four seasons.

These Final Four moments have become normal for Hurley, who expressed a calm excitement about what lies ahead.

"There's no better feeling than being on that bus on Monday night," he said. "I look forward to the ability to being able to max out the season."

Hurley was flanked by Silas Demary, Braylon Mullins, and Tarris Reed at the podium, all of whom were not on the roster for those previous Monday night bus rides.

And in the biggest game of the season to date, those were the players that made the biggest impact. They were not afraid of the stage. It did not seem like they had to adjust to the magnitude of each possession.

Like Hurley walking up to that podium, it was like those three had been here before.

"We're a tough program," Hurley explained of his team's resolve. "We're a group of fighters. It's not appealing to everyone. We've got incredible will. We go into these games and we're ready for battle.

"Again, for us it's not a game that we're just kind of running around in uniforms throwing the ball around and hoping it goes in. That's not what we're doing out there. We're fighting. It's a life-and-death struggle for us to get to Monday night for the opportunity to win a championship"

Mullins scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half and finished with four made three-pointers, something he hadn't done since a Feb. 18 loss to Creighton. Those three points in the second half were perhaps the biggest shot of the game—one that pushed UConn's lead back to three possessions in the closing minute.

"You've always got to shoot with confidence," Mullins said of that shot. "The set was going to be run for anybody on the team, so you've just got to shoot with confidence."

Demary had one of the most well-rounded performances you'll see from someone fighting through an injured ankle, recording nine rebounds and seven assists to go along with seven points and two steals.

Reed, meanwhile, continued his spectacular tournament run with another dominant display. His 17-point, 11-rebound showing marked his third double-double in the dance, but that only scratches the surface of what his impact was on this game.

Illinois does not double on post touches and, with the shooters on UConn's roster, it was an active gameplanning decision to stay with that strategy. Reed's play in the first half forced the Illini to double him every time he got a post touch in the second half, opening up better looks from the perimeter.

UConn's championship runs have been buoyed by an elite frontcourt player. Adama Sanogo averaged 19.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in the 2023 tournament. Donovan Clingan went for 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game in 2024.

Through five games in this year's dance, Reed is averaging 20.8 points and 13.0 rebounds.

"We've all just been waiting for this from him, this version of him, which this version of him is one of the best players in this tournament," Hurley said. "He's played as well as anyone has played in this tournament, and it's all we've ever wanted for him."

The Huskies have needed Reed's offense because their offense has been inconsistent through the season.

That was the case on Saturday night, too.

UConn went nearly eight minutes in the first half with only one made shot, and then endured a five-minute stretch in the second half where it failed to score.

Normal teams don't survive those kinds of offensive droughts. Then again, the Huskies are not a normal team—particularly defensively.

They held Illinois to 33.9 percent shooting and only 6-for-26 from three-point range. The Illini only had three assists, too.

"I thought the best thing that we did was...move some of those two-man actions a little bit further away and put them under a little bit more duress," Hurley explained. "Obviously to hold them to 33 percent from the field, three assists, eight turnovers in the game, we won a lot of one-on-one battles. Our defense sustained us."

That speaks even further to the championship DNA instilled in this program. Yes, there is a ton of talent on this roster. And yes, UConn has one of the best coaching staffs in the country.

But that last part Hurley mentioned—winning one-on-one battles against one of the most efficient offenses in KenPom history—is what separates great teams from the really good ones. It takes fight, grit, and unwavering confidence to attack that challenge with the poise UConn did.

The players may change, but those pillars that have been firmly ingrained in the program set the UConn standard. And that standard is why the Huskies get to play one more game.