Illini close out emotional ride in one unforgettable season

ST. LOUIS -- Bruce Weber didn't want it to end for Illinois, not like this.

As the final seconds slipped away on a season that was exhilarating, poignant and one victory short of the ultimate goal, the coach with the scratchy voice couldn't do anything but reflect on the journey.

What a ride it was.

The Illini won 37 times, tying the NCAA record for victories in a season. But they ended with a loss, 75-70 to North Carolina in the championship game Monday night.

"It was so much fun," Weber said. "I cried last night in our meeting. I knew it would be our last meeting with this team and I didn't want it to end. I'm sad that it's over."

Less than a month ago, Weber endured a gut-wrenching tragedy. His mother suffered chest pains while picking up her tickets for the Big Ten Tournament. A few hours later, Dawn Weber died in surgery, the victim of a torn aorta just below her heart.

Bruce Weber and Illinois finish with an NCAA-record 37 victories. (Getty Images)

Her son was back on the bench the next day, fighting through tears for the sport that has always bound the family together. He didn't stop coaching until the final game of the season, clad in a garish orange coat that matched the color of his players' uniforms and those tens of thousands of Illini fans who packed the Edward Jones Dome.

Illinois fought back from a 15-point deficit early in the second half, tying the game a couple of times in the waning minutes. But the Illini never could get over the hump, leaving their coach to watch helplessly as their last five 3-pointers clanged off the rim.

"We went down fighting," Weber said. "We had a couple of looks, but they didn't go down. I can't ask for more."

At halftime, he reminded his players of their amazing comeback in the regional final, when they rallied from 15 points down in the final four minutes of regulation and beat Arizona in overtime.

"This is a game they're going to remember the rest of their lives," Weber related. "I said, 'Fight, battle, play hard, don't play not to lose, don't play timid.'"

Weber came into the Final Four as the only coach who had never been there before. He was viewed as the guy who won the lottery when Matt Doherty was fired by North Carolina two years ago.

That set off a coaching chain of events that sent Roy Williams from Kansas to Carolina, Bill Self from Illinois to Kansas and Weber from Southern Illinois to Illinois.