Charles Barkley predicted before the game that Illinois would beat UConn pretty good. UConn then did what it has done so often this tournament, beating Illinois 72-61 in the Final Four and leaving Barkley to answer for another miss.
The Huskies’ defense and shot-making carried the night. UConn hit 12 three-pointers, and Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr. combined for 32 points as the Huskies kept Illinois from ever fully closing the gap.
Dan Hurley did not let the moment pass quietly. In his postgame press conference, he said he had to throw some shade, and he pointed to TNT and some of the prognostications he had seen while praising how hard his players fought even when plenty of people thought UConn would lose.
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Hurley did not name Barkley directly, but the target was easy to see. Fans have noticed for a while that Barkley has often picked against UConn in key games, and the timing made the jab land even harder after another game he got wrong.
Now Barkley has moved on to the championship game and picked Michigan to beat UConn. He said he does not think Michigan has any weaknesses, called Dusty May a hell of a coach, and said he thinks Michigan will get its first national championship in 25 years.
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That was not his only bold call. Barkley also said he believed Rick Pitino and St. John’s would beat Duke in the Sweet 16, and he backed the Arizona Wildcats as a team he thought could win the Big Dance. For UConn fans, the pattern has become part of the story: when Barkley goes the other way, they start to like their chances.
