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  • No. 3-Seeded Illinois Held Off A Feisty 11-Seed In VCU With The Illini Advancing To The Sweet 16

No. 3-Seeded Illinois Held Off A Feisty 11-Seed In VCU With The Illini Advancing To The Sweet 16

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Basketball

The Illinois men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the second time in the last three years. No. 3-seeded Illinois beat No. 11-seeded VCU, 76-55, Saturday night to advance to the South Regional Semifinal against Houston in Houston on Thursday.

Illinois (26-8) trailed for only 24 seconds in the dominant second-round victory at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Illini outshot VCU 48%-35%, dominated the glass 45-29, and played aggressive defense without fouling leading to a nine-point edge from the line. The formula led to Illinois' second straight comfortable win after a 105-70 rout of Penn on Thursday night.  

Andrej Stojakovic led four Illini in double figures with 21 points off the bench, including 16 in the first half, while Keaton Wagler and Tomislav Ivisic each added 14 points, and Kylan Boswell chipped in 12. Ivisic posted a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.  

VCU (28-8) took its first and only lead, 28-26, at the 3:09 mark of the first half. Stojakovic answered by scoring the final nine points of the half, as part of a personal run of 11 straight points for the Illini, to regain a 35-28 lead at the half.

Back-to-back threes from Wagler and David Mirkovic to start the second half built Illinois' lead to 13 with 18:47 left as the Illini completely took over the game. An exclamation point fastbreak dunk by Zvonimir Ivisic followed by a Boswell three ballooned Illinois' lead to 17 with 14:10 remaining and the Illini cruised the rest of the way.

Illinois won for the 26th time this season, tied for the fifth-most wins in program history, while head coach Brad Underwood earned career victory No. 300. The Illini advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time under Underwood, and for the 10th time since the tournament field was increased to 32 in 1975. Illinois last appeared in the Sweet 16 in 2024, when Underwood guided the program to the Elite Eight.  

No. 2-seeded Houston (30-6, 14-4 Big 12) awaits the Illini on Thursday at the Toyota Center in Houston. The Cougars opened with a 78-47 win over 15th-seeded Idaho, and are coming off an 88-57 victory in Round 2 over No. 10 seed Texas A&M.