Sweet 16: Illinois advances to Elite Eight for 2nd time in 3 years with 65-55 win over Houston
· Yahoo Sports
HOUSTON – As Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler dribbled out the final seconds Thursday night at the Toyota Center, Tomislav Ivišić walked down the court with his arms raised in triumph at making it through the heavyweight fight.
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The No. 3 seed Illini survived a gritty defensive battle in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament to top No. 2 seed Houston 65-55. It was Illinois’ lowest-scoring output in a win this season.
Illinois advances to its sixth NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance since 1975 and second in three years. Since 2000, the Illini also made it to a regional final in 2001, in 2005 during the run to the national title game and in 2024.
The Illini will play No. 9 seed Iowa, which beat No. 4 seed Nebraska 77-71 in the first game in the South Region on Thursday night to advance to its first Elite Eight since 1987. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:09 p.m. Saturday in Houston.
Illinois turned a two-point halftime lead into a 44-26 advantage with a 17-0 run. David Mirković and Ben Humrichous made back-to-back 3-pointers to punctuate it, and the Illini jumped and danced off the bench into a timeout.
Houston went nearly seven minutes without a basket before Milos Uzan broke it with a 3-pointer with 11:20 to play. The Cougars clawed back within nine points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Chase McCarty with 6:32 to play. But Ivišić and Keaton Wagler followed with 3s to counter.
Houston made another late run, with Emanuel Sharp’s drive with 42 seconds to play cutting it to seven points. Illinois hadn’t scored a field goal since lengthening its lead to 58-41 with 3:41 to play, though Kylan Boswell made 6 of 10 free throws after that. But the Illini held on for the win.
Mirković led Illinois with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Wagler added 13 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.
The Illini led just 24-22 at halftime against the nation’s fourth-rated defense, according to KenPom, the lowest-scoring half of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars made every shot a battle in the early going. Through four minutes, Illinois shot 1-for-10 from the field and Houston 0-for-7.
Illinois found a little cushion when wing Andrej Stojaković hit a turnaround jumper at the shot-clock buzzer and then a corner 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give the Illini a seven-point lead with 4:23 to play in the half.
A Wagler 3-pointer made it eight points with 3:23 left in the half. But the Illini didn’t score again before halftime. Flemings’ 3-pointer with 1 second to play before halftime cut it to two.
Flemings, considered one of the nation’s top freshman guards, led Houston with seven points at halftime and finished with just 11 points. Sharp scored 17 for the Cougars.
The Illini, known for the nation’s No. 2 offense, used its defense to stay ahead in the first half. The Cougars shot 9-for-33 from the field and 4-for-17 from 3-point range.
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Iowa, which knocked off top-seeded Florida in the second round, continued its surprise tournament run behind 20 points and four assists from senior guard Bennett Stirtz.
Playing in front of a crowd packed with Nebraska fans, Stirtz gave Iowa its first lead of the game with a 3-pointer with 2:10 to play, and freshman Tate Sage followed with another 3 to make it 71-65 with 1:18 left.
Nebraska’s Braden Frager cut it to three with his own 3-pointer. But after a Nebraska timeout, Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras got behind Nebraska’s press with only four Cornhuskers players on the court for a dunk and a free throw after a foul. He had another big dunk with 34 seconds to play, and Iowa hung on from there.
Nebraska started the game off hot, making 6 of 10 3-point attempts in the first nine minutes. That included three from Frager and two from Pryce Sandfort, who finished with 25 points.
But Nebraska’s three-minute scoring drought late in the first half allowed Iowa to pull within 40-38. Sage hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to cut Nebraska’s lead to 46-43, and the Hawkeyes mounted the comeback win from there.
Illinois won its only meeting with Iowa during the regular season 75-69 on Jan. 11 in Iowa City behind a balanced performance from its guards. Kylan Boswell helped hold Stirtz to 12 points in the game.