Another alum on the Spurs, Sean Elliott, arrived later. He stood in the locker room, doing a television interview, as coach Lute Olson finally returned from the postgame news conference following an 87-81 victory over Illinois in the Midwest Regional final. Elliott said it in a joking tone, but he did seem serious about finding a minute of semi-privacy with his former coach.

"Can't ruin a candid moment," Elliott told reporters.

They walked to another room and chatted for about a minute before emerging and parting ways.

Arizona coach Lute Olson's season has been filled with emotional highs and lows.(AP)

"Take care of those guys," Elliott said to Olson. "Stay on 'em."

What a strange mix of emotions for the Wildcats as they earned the school's fourth trip to the Final Four. The day meant remembering the sadness of a season in which the coach's wife died. The day also meant doing some strutting, showing some swagger after a "soft" team from a "soft" conference took out a top seed from the rugged Big Ten.

"The first two games, they were talking a lot," guard Gilbert Arenas said of the Wildcats' previous games this season against Illinois. "Today, they were pretty cool with it. It was mostly (Robert) Archibald. He was the only one who said something. He said, 'You guys are nothing but weak asses.'"

Center Loren Woods will never win any heavyweight titles. But the Wildcats were not weak, except, perhaps, when it came to recalling what they had gone through before arriving at this point.

"It is emotional," Olson said. "It's been a difficult year. It's tough. It's not over yet, but I'm really pleased our guys can enjoy this."

It's possible that Arizona will have to go through three top seeds to win another national title, just as they did en route to winning the title in 1997. That might take more swagger and emotion than the Wildcats have. But on Sunday, they savored a victory that appeared unlikely as they started the season 8-5.

Say hello to the NBA, Gilbert Arenas. He dominated at the outset, scoring 18 of his 21 points in the first half. He hit 3-pointers. He kissed the ball off the glass after switching hands. He took an alley-oop pass for a basket. He took a back-door pass for a reverse layup.

"We knew they would come out and try to bully us," reserve forward Eugene Edgerson said. "But we got the first shot in. That's how you deal with bullies."

But what made the game for the Wildcats was the 3-for-15 shooting performance by Illinois guard Frank Williams, the Big Ten player of the year. Olson might not be a rah-rah leader and he might have made some famously early exits in the NCAA Tournament, but nobody can doubt his Xs and Os.

He put 6-foot-7 forward Richard Jefferson, not Arenas, on Williams. Arenas coached Jefferson on playing the role. Williams is not a great shooter. Most of the time, he will fake a 3-pointer and drive. Any time Williams did drive, the Wildcats ran a few players at him. Olson was not going to let Williams beat him, wisely taking his chances with other Illini players such as Cory Bradford, whose 22 points defined "too little, too late."

A parade of Illinois players on the front line fouled out -- six of them in total. Ridiculously, with little-used reserves Nate Mast and Brett Melton on the floor, the game was still in doubt. But in the end, the Illini needed both guards clicking to beat a team as good as Arizona. And it didn't happen.

The pain was evident in Illinois' locker room. Marcus Griffin, surrounded by cameras and microphones, covered his face with a towel for a several moments before gathering himself to talk.

Meanwhile, Arizona celebrated.

"Way to take it to your Chicago boys," Kerr said to forward Michael Wright, who's from Chicago and played against some of the Illini players during high school.

Kerr, who was with his wife and kids, congratulated Olson after the coach's postgame news conference.

"I'm most happy for Lute, obviously, after what he's gone through," Kerr said. "It's good for him, to divert his thoughts."

Now Arizona will direct its thoughts to Michigan State, a Big Ten team whose toughness during last season's national championship served as a model to the Illini. The leading rebounding team in the nation will present another strength vs. skill match.

Another game in which the Wildcats will defend themselves in the media and on the court.

"People can talk about Illinois and rebounding and Ole Miss and defense," Jefferson said. "We do what we do -- and we're still in the tournament."