UConn's Hawkins bounces back from illness in Final Four win
Connecticut guard Jordan Hawkins says he had no doubt he was going to play in Saturday night's 72-59 win against Miami in the Final Four despite battling a stomach illness
HOUSTON (AP) — Jordan Hawkins spent most of Friday in bed except when he went to the bathroom to throw up. He barely slept. Yet there was no way he wasn't going to be ready for Connecticut's game against Miami in the Final Four.
“I absolutely knew I was going to play,” Hawkins said after the Huskies' 72-59 win over Miami in Saturday night's national semifinals. “I didn't care how I was feeling. Put me on a stretcher, it didn't matter.”
It wasn't quite that dramatic, fortunately. But the 6-foot-5 sophomore bounced back from missing Friday's practice, first by hitting a 3-pointer on the game's opening possession and then by scoring 10 of his 13 points after halftime as the Huskies rolled into Monday night's title game.
“Final Four gameday, I wasn’t feeling the best,” he said in the locker room. “But you just have that mentality that you’ve got to go out and win a game for a national championship.”
