Deron Williams came up big when the Illini needed it the most. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Grant Wahl was court-level for the wild Arizona-Illinois regional final in Chicago. SI.com caught up with him to get his impressions of that game, the rest of this weekend and the Final Four.

SI.com: Can you give your initial impressions of the game?
Grant Wahl: I think people are already calling this the greatest two games in the regional finals with Louisville coming back from 20 down and Illinois coming back from 15 down in four minutes. They both beat good teams.

Here in Chicago, it's a pretty amazing atmosphere for Illinois and to make that comeback I'd compare it, from a personal standpoint, to when France won the World Cup at home.

SI.com: What did you see as the turning point?
Wahl: Deron Williams hit a big 3 when Illinois was down 15 to get it to 75-63 and you got some sense there might be some life left in the Illini. Illinois was having the wrong guys take the wrong shots before, and if you look at the scoring after, all the scoring with exception of Roger Powell layup in OT came from the guards -- Luther Head, Dee Brown and Williams.

Williams had four 3s that really sparked them. As good as a season he's had, he hasn't had a great scoring season and to see him take charge was impressive.

All season long, everyone has been talking about the three guards at Illinois. Tonight, they really showed how strong they are. For a while, I was wondering if Illinois was ever going to come back because they lacked a sense of urgency before those guards took over.

SI.com: Being in the building, can you describe what the atmosphere was in that intervening period between regulation and overtime?
Wahl: Well, people were extremely relieved more than anything else. What they had just seen -- that comeback against a very good, well-coached Arizona team -- was just remarkable. Going into overtime, everyone thought Illinois was going to blow Arizona out and it didn't happen. Arizona even had a shot at the end. The biggest question is why they didn't get it to Salim Stoudamire. He's the guy who got them here and he didn't even get a chance. They called a timeout to try and set it up and it didn't happen. That still baffles me.

SI.com: With the comeback tonight, do you think Illinois has overcome its biggest hurdle to the title?
Wahl: You shouldn't underestimate what's still in front of the Illini. They'll have two very tough games to win in order to claim the national title. I think what they'll take out of this today is that they learned a lot about themselves and how they respond to pressure at its highest. I think these guys are realistic about challenges that lie ahead, but might play with more freedom now that they're in the Final Four.

To be honest, for a time, I thought they were going to be run out of the gym. They haven't been in clutch situations very often and when they were, they were OK, but nothing sparkling. They beat Iowa at home in OT and lost to Ohio State looking very frazzled at the end of that game. In this one, they pushed it the right way.

SI.com: What are your early impressions of next week's semifinal game between Illinois and Louisville?
Wahl: I think it's going to be an interesting game. Neither team has a dominant big man, so it will be an up-and-down game. It will be interesting to see who picks up a guy like Francisco Garcia. It's also going to be another home crowd for Illinois and they really fed off that down the stretch tonight.

SI.com: Despite the loss, what impressed you about Arizona tonight?
Wahl: It had a great game plan and really seemed to neutralize what Illinois tries to do. The first 10 minutes of second half were amazing as far as what the Wildcats did to make life difficult for Illinois shooters and make its non-shooters shoot the ball. They got away from that later in the game.

SI.com: With today in the books, what can happen tomorrow to top it?
Wahl: I don't think you will. It's the kind of day that happens once in a generation to have two such great games in a regional final. We'll have good games tomorrow, I'm sure -- but nothing like today.