Will the Illini get revenge for the loss to UConn back in November? Is the total too high in the late game?

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Three-time champion Phil Mickelson withdrew from the Masters on Thursday, citing a personal health matter with his family that kept him out of all but one of the five LIV Golf events this year.Unfortunately I will not play in the Masters Tournament next week and will be out for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter, Mickelson posted on social media.Tiger Woods said Tuesday he was taking an indefinite leave to seek treatment after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence in a Feb. 27 crash in Florida.It will be the first time neither Woods nor Mickelson will be at the Masters since 1994, when Woods was a senior in high school and Mickelson had broken his leg while skiing earlier that year.Mickelson called the Masters definitely the most special week of the year, and his record reflects that. He won his first major at Augusta National in 2004, the last player to win the Masters by one shot with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole.He also won in 2006 and in 2010, one of only eight players to win the Masters at least three times.Mickelson has not shared details of the personal family matter. He sat out LIV's four events to start the year and returned in South Africa two weeks ago, tying for 48th in the 57-man field.It's just fun to be back playing, he said in South Africa.The only other time Mickelson missed the Masters was in 2022, when he took a leave of absence after inflammatory remarks as the Saudi-funded LIV Golf was preparing to launch.Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of obnoxious greed in a Golf Digest interview. In an interview with author Alan Shipnuck for his book on Mickelson, he dismissed Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reshape the PGA Tour.The remarks cost him corporate sponsorships. Mickelson joined LIV later that year.The Masters starts April 9 with a 91-man field, with one spot still available if the winner of this week's Texas Open is not already eligible.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Tarris Reed Jr. sat at his locker Thursday, fielding questions about his run as the interior-scoring, rebound-snagging force in UConn's latest Final Four push.Yet he wasn't the main attraction.That's because across the room, an even bigger gaggle of reporters waited for freshman guard Braylon Mullins the Indiana kid who hit an all-timer of a shot to send the Huskies back to the sport's biggest stage to return for his own round of interviews.Guards are the ones that hit the big shots, Reed said Thursday when asked about big men getting their due, adding with a grin: We just do our job, we do the dirty work and we're used to doing it our whole life so we have fun doing it.Maybe so, but there's no minimalizing the impact of size this week in Indianapolis. Not with the Final Four boasting its biggest quartet of teams going back roughly two decades, starting with guys such as Reed, Michigan's Aday Mara, Arizona's Koa Peat and Illinois' 7-foot Ivisic twins as anchors to lineups with size radiating all the way out to the perimeter.Length, height and bulkThe average height of the Final Four teams is nearly 79.1 inches, or roughly 6 feet 6, according to KenPoms analytics site. That edges last years average of nearly 78.3 inches for the biggest of any Final Four going back to the start of KenPoms data in 2007.Illinois (28-8) is Division I's tallest team with an average roster height of nearly 6-7 (80 inches), while Arizona (36-2) is seventh at nearly 6-6 (79 inches). Michigan (35-3) and UConn (33-5) are in the top 30 nationally with nearly identical averages slightly behind the Wildcats.Consider it a sign of the premium each team put on building a roster to overwhelm teams inside, on the glass and with game-altering length spanning the gaps between.That kind of size, strength and wingspan creates trouble cascading through the matchups. ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock said teams are also thriving by finding power forwards and centers capable of stepping outside to stretch defenses further and create space, eliminating the ability for a defense to simply collapse on a lone big man.Guards still win in March, said Hancock, the most outstanding player of the 2013 Final Four in Louisvilles later-vacated title run. "But I think these guys have become almost like a necessary component. If you want to win championships, you need a big 4 and a monster 5.And it's manifesting in several ways as March Madness reaches its final act.Defensive edgeThe Illini have had the best defensive tournament efficiency of the Final Four teams while dominating the glass to complete those stops. Their roster includes an influx of European talent, including Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro. The Illini also brings 6-9, 235-pound graduate Ben Humrichous off the bench, while the outlier in the big lineup is 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell as a strong backcourt defender. The South Region champion has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams. Throw in the fact that Illinois is outrebounding opponents by 16.3 per game, and it's been a perfectly timed boost to an already elite offense with those forwards and centers capable of hitting from behind the arc, too."Playing in the summer, you could tell its a little bit harder to do some things just because youve got Z at the rim, whos 7-foot-2 and a great shot blocker," 6-6 forward Jake Davis said. You got Tommy down there. So anybody youre going up against in practice is super tall. ... Weve just got a bunch of length everywhere. And you could tell early on that we could cause problems for other teams.Reeds presenceThe Illini will be tested against Reed, a 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior whose scoring (21.8) and rebounding (13.5) averages in the tournament are the best of any player still standing.That included opening the tournament with a video game-type stat line of 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, making him the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Houstons Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968. Hes coming off a 26-point showing in the comeback from 19 down to stun Duke in the Elite Eight.Hes a monster, said UConn senior Alex Karaban, who was part of the Huskies 2023 and 2024 title winners. Hes been so dominant. Hes really playing like the most dominant player in college basketball right now.Wearing them downWhen it comes to the No. 1 seeds, the Wolverines have hummed with 90-plus points in four tournament wins. The Wildcats have been right behind in offensive efficiency despite being shooting fewer 3-pointers than just about every other Division I team all season.Their meeting Saturday matches strengths.Michigan has used the 7-3, 255-pound Mara to protect the paint, flanked by a pair of versatile 6-9 forwards in Associated Press first-team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg (240 pounds) and Morez Johnson Jr. (250).Our size definitely makes it tougher for smaller guards, Lendeborg said. Because were so versatile ... we can switch and guard point guards, make their life a little harder. And you know, were all strong bodies too. So we try to wear down teams.And then, toward the end of the game, thats when we usually make our runs when we need it.Michigan will be tested against the Wildcats with 7-2 center Motiejus Krivas (10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Peat, a 6-8, 235-pound freshman considered a strong NBA prospect.If you don't have the big to defend other bigs, you can't compete at this level in my opinion, Hancock said.How do you make it so you're really tough to guard and you have an advantage? Its the 4-men in this Final Four who are just so talented and the diversity of their skill sets they can do so many things. That is the ultimate to me.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

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