{"id":698845,"date":"2026-04-05T01:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698845\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:44:18","slug":"freshmen-braylon-mullins-and-keaton-wagler-shine-as-others-struggle-in-uconns-win-over-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698845\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshmen Braylon Mullins and Keaton Wagler shine as others struggle in UConn’s win over Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n{‘ap_id’: ‘68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63’, ‘byline’: ‘AP Basketball Writer’, ‘ap_version’: 0, ‘apProducts’: [{‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘knss’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘thesky973’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘wbbm780’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘wben’, ‘section_front’: ‘local-sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘wilknews’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘989word’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}], ‘original_item’: {‘meta’: {‘products’: [{‘id’: 32555, ‘name’: ‘AP Online College Sports News’}, {‘id’: 32562, ‘name’: ‘AP Online Other Sports News’}, {‘id’: 41664, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News’}, {‘id’: 42435, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News – Sports – Stories’}, {‘id’: 100363, ‘name’: ‘AP Online – Sports’}, {‘id’: 100518, ‘name’: ‘AP Top News Package’}], ‘followed_topics’: []}, ‘item’: {‘uri’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63?qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&et=0a1aza0c0&in_my_plan=true’, ‘altids’: {‘itemid’: ‘68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63’, ‘etag’: ‘68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63_0a1aza0c0’, ‘friendlykey’: ‘213426123165’, ‘referenceid’: ‘BKC–NCAA-Standout Freshmen’}, ‘version’: 0, ‘type’: ‘text’, ‘urgency’: 4, ‘profile’: ‘Spot Development’, ‘language’: ‘en’, ‘versioncreated’: ‘2026-04-05T01:04:28Z’, ‘firstcreated’: ‘2026-04-05T01:04:28Z’, ‘editorialrole’: ‘FullStory’, ‘pubstatus’: ‘usable’, ‘signals’: [‘newscontent’], ‘title’: ‘BKC–NCAA-Standout Freshmen’, ‘headline’: “Freshmen Braylon Mullins and Keaton Wagler shine as others struggle in UConn’s win over Illinois”, ‘headline_extended’: ‘Freshmen Braylon Mullins of UConn and Keaton Wagler of Illinois led the way for their teams in the Final Four on Saturday’, ‘headline_seo’: “Freshmen Mullins and Wagler shine in UConn’s Final Four win over Illinois”, ‘slugline’: ‘AP-BKC-NCAA-Standout-Freshmen’, ‘bylines’: [{‘by’: ‘By AARON BEARD’, ‘title’: ‘AP Basketball Writer’}], ‘located’: ‘INDIANAPOLIS’, ‘datelinelocation’: {‘city’: ‘Indianapolis’, ‘countryareacode’: ‘IN’, ‘countryareaname’: ‘Indiana’, ‘countrycode’: ‘USA’, ‘countryname’: ‘United States’, ‘geometry_geojson’: {‘type’: ‘Point’, ‘coordinates’: [-86.15804, 39.76838]}}, ‘copyrightnotice’: ‘Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.’, ‘usageterms’: [‘This content is intended for editorial use only. For other uses, additional clearances may be required.’], ‘keywords’: [‘final four braylon mullins keaton wagler uconn illinois’], ‘provider’: ‘AP’, ‘infosource’: [{‘name’: ‘AP’, ‘type’: ‘AP’}], ‘person’: [{‘name’: ‘Patrick Ewing’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘types’: [‘PERSON’], ‘relevance’: 90}, {‘name’: ‘Dan Hurley’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘types’: [‘PERSON’], ‘relevance’: 43}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘0211559acc7146c69c1ba13c36d7b742’, ‘name’: ‘Michael Jordan’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘types’: [‘SPORTS_MANAGEMENT’, ‘SPORTS_FIGURE’, ‘PERSON’], ‘relevance’: 90}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘4dbe363b116c4744991b9262ca0d1c07’, ‘name’: ‘Keaton Wagler’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘types’: [‘COLLEGE_ATHLETE’, ‘SPORTS_FIGURE’, ‘PERSON’], ‘teams’: [{‘code’: ‘4a939e1625c0429fb136a10ffe5ab474’, ‘name’: ‘Illinois Fighting Illini’}], ‘relevance’: 99}], ‘subject’: [{‘rels’: [‘category’], ‘creator’: ‘Editorial’, ‘code’: ‘s’, ‘name’: ‘s’}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘4ccc3c4bc13c4d3bb1715a91438e16f0’, ‘name’: “NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship”, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 70}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘1dc78fe87f15100488fbdf092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Basketball’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 49}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘8ee69a21b2d34f63a04456a36dd01508’, ‘name’: “Men’s college basketball”, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 68}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘670821188c80100481f3a13d9888b73e’, ‘name’: ‘College basketball’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 68}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ’54df6c687df7100483dedf092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Sports’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 54}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ’20d8e2807e4e100488a7d0913b2d075c’, ‘name’: ‘College sports’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 81}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ’54df6c687df7100483dedf092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Sports’, ‘creator’: ‘Editorial’, ‘editorial_subject’: ‘Sports’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 99}], ‘organisation’: [{‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘398ad1f0d51041558d3236bfa6c2d5f9’, ‘name’: ‘Connecticut Huskies’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 77}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘4a939e1625c0429fb136a10ffe5ab474’, ‘name’: ‘Illinois Fighting Illini’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘relevance’: 77}], ‘place’: [{‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘e0f5e9f87f4f10048fc9df092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Georgetown’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘parentids’: [‘661effd07d5b100482a0c076b8e3055c’], ‘locationtype’: {‘code’: ‘9d26a20b35f0484a891740f8189d4c7b’, ‘name’: ‘City’}, ‘geometry_geojson’: {‘type’: ‘Point’, ‘coordinates’: [-58.15527, 6.80448]}, ‘relevance’: 47, ‘parentnames’: [‘Guyana’]}, {‘scheme’: ‘http:\/\/cv.ap.org\/id\/’, ‘code’: ‘2c6a186082b010048379df092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Illinois’, ‘creator’: ‘Machine’, ‘rels’: [‘direct’], ‘parentids’: [‘661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c’], ‘locationtype’: {‘code’: ‘0ae5eb8e00e04295a4fc209c94bfe6ef’, ‘name’: ‘State’}, ‘geometry_geojson’: {‘type’: ‘Point’, ‘coordinates’: [-89.25037, 40.00032]}, ‘relevance’: 68, ‘parentnames’: [‘United States’]}], ‘audiences’: [{‘code’: ’82c6a4c46fa0446090a7acaf93159e4c’, ‘name’: ‘Print’, ‘type’: ‘AUDPLATFORM’}, {‘code’: ‘9add4649b53b4702ba7d9de5d4fa607a’, ‘name’: ‘Online’, ‘type’: ‘AUDPLATFORM’}, {‘code’: ‘f43adc08760d10048040e6e7a0f4673e’, ‘name’: ‘National’, ‘type’: ‘AUDSCOPE’}, {‘code’: ‘f4ecf9b0760d10048044e6e7a0f4673e’, ‘name’: ‘International’, ‘type’: ‘AUDSCOPE’}, {‘code’: ‘f5b16ea8760d10048047e6e7a0f4673e’, ‘name’: ‘State’, ‘type’: ‘AUDSCOPE’}, {‘code’: ‘661850e07d5b100481f5c076b8e3055c’, ‘name’: ‘Latin America and Caribbean’, ‘type’: ‘AUDGEOGRAPHY’}, {‘code’: ‘0760000082b2100483c7df092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Indiana’, ‘type’: ‘AUDGEOGRAPHY’}, {‘code’: ‘2c6a186082b010048379df092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Illinois’, ‘type’: ‘AUDGEOGRAPHY’}, {‘code’: ‘a42dc0a082af100482a7df092526b43e’, ‘name’: ‘Connecticut’, ‘type’: ‘AUDGEOGRAPHY’}, {‘code’: ‘661e48387d5b10048291c076b8e3055c’, ‘name’: ‘United States’, ‘type’: ‘AUDGEOGRAPHY’}], ‘associations’: {‘1’: {‘uri’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/aa87dc7a29e54e2aa59c70ce307838ca?qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&et=0a2aza3c0&ai=68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63&in_my_plan=true’, ‘altids’: {‘itemid’: ‘aa87dc7a29e54e2aa59c70ce307838ca’, ‘etag’: ‘aa87dc7a29e54e2aa59c70ce307838ca_0a2aza3c0’}, ‘version’: 0, ‘type’: ‘picture’, ‘headline’: ‘NCAA Illinois UConn Basketball’}, ‘2’: {‘uri’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/6517c7849e06438b80dd5f8e356d792e?qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&et=0a2aza3c0&ai=68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63&in_my_plan=true’, ‘altids’: {‘itemid’: ‘6517c7849e06438b80dd5f8e356d792e’, ‘etag’: ‘6517c7849e06438b80dd5f8e356d792e_0a2aza3c0’}, ‘version’: 0, ‘type’: ‘picture’, ‘headline’: ‘NCAA Illinois UConn Basketball’}, ‘3’: {‘uri’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/2800a0d110ac4da1802cb921a8d97352?qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&et=0a2aza3c0&ai=68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63&in_my_plan=true’, ‘altids’: {‘itemid’: ‘2800a0d110ac4da1802cb921a8d97352’, ‘etag’: ‘2800a0d110ac4da1802cb921a8d97352_0a2aza3c0’}, ‘version’: 0, ‘type’: ‘picture’, ‘headline’: ‘NCAA Illinois UConn Basketball’}, ‘4’: {‘uri’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/ff0bb9b7f4574ab5b411a542f737fa56?qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&et=0a2aza3c0&ai=68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63&in_my_plan=true’, ‘altids’: {‘itemid’: ‘ff0bb9b7f4574ab5b411a542f737fa56’, ‘etag’: ‘ff0bb9b7f4574ab5b411a542f737fa56_0a2aza3c0’}, ‘version’: 0, ‘type’: ‘picture’, ‘headline’: ‘NCAA Illinois UConn Basketball’}}, ‘renditions’: {‘nitf’: {‘title’: ‘NITF Story Download’, ‘rel’: ‘Story’, ‘format’: ‘IIM’, ‘type’: ‘text’, ‘mimetype’: ‘text\/xml’, ‘fileextension’: ‘xml’, ‘words’: 331, ‘contentid’: ‘cbb867220cda0d59e5ca46a2aee602da’, ‘href’: ‘https:\/\/api.ap.org\/media\/v\/content\/68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63.0\/download?type=text&format=NITF&rid=cbb867220cda0d59e5ca46a2aee602da&cid=0&fid=5b3366350aed4fa2ba005ea5e70d6061&trf=y1234&qt=juFCrzYIMIeF&dt=2WPIEUfZx&et=0a1aza0c0’, ‘mediafilterid’: ‘2’}}, ‘textformat’: ‘bx’, ‘links’: [{‘href’: ‘https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/final-four-braylon-mullins-keaton-wagler-uconn-illinois-68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63’, ‘rel’: ‘canonical’}]}}}\n<\/p>\n

Skip to content<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Condition: Post with Page_List\n <\/p>\n

Search & Section Navigation\"logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Connect<\/p>\n

\n Ask your smart speaker to
play K N S S Radio on Audacy\n <\/p>\n

Site NavigationClose Search & Section NavigationCloseGet the latest updates and insights delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"{‘ap_id’: ‘68009ac87d046f7008aa9361eed29c63’, ‘byline’: ‘AP Basketball Writer’, ‘ap_version’: 0, ‘apProducts’: [{‘product_id’: 42435, ‘station’: ‘knss’, ‘section_front’: ‘sports’, ‘name’: ‘AP Top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,325,37588,231,772,86697,1544,42,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-698845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-men-s-college-basketball","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaa-men-s-division-i-basketball-championship","15":"tag-ncaab","16":"tag-s","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116349572016628433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}