• Basketball
  • Illinois Is One Win Away From The Final Four After Shocking The Houston Cougars, 65-55

Illinois Is One Win Away From The Final Four After Shocking The Houston Cougars, 65-55

Details
Basketball

A dominant defensive effort has sent the Illinois men's basketball team to the Elite Eight. The Fighting Illini are one win away from the Final Four after a Sweet-16 victory over No. 2-seeded and No. 5-ranked Houston, 65-55, at the Toyota Center in Houston on Thursday night.

Illinois (27-8) advanced to face Big Ten rival Iowa on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. CT in the 11th Elite Eight in program history after holding Houston (30-7) to 34% shooting (22-64). The Illini owned the glass with a 43-34 rebounding edge and limited Houston to only two free throw attempts for a 10-point difference from the line.

David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler each posted double-doubles to lead the Illini, with Mikrovic going for 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Wagler had 13 points and a game-high and career-high 12 boards. It was the first points/rebounds double-double of Wagler's All-American freshman season. 

After a first-half slugfest, Illinois went on a game-changing 17-0 run that spanned 6:46 to build a 44-26 lead with 11:54 left in the game. It was the longest run allowed by Houston over the past eight seasons, and the Cougars never got the game closer than seven points after the run. 

Wagler and Mirkovic each came alive in the second half, combining for 18 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists and accounting for seven of Illinois' 12 made shots of the half. After a first half scoring on 42% of its possessions, Illinois exploded for 41 second-half points, scoring on 62% of possessions.

Both teams traded blows in the first half, leading to season lows for points in a half for both teams and the lowest scoring half of the NCAA Tournament thus far. Illinois took a 24-22 lead into the break, led by Andrej Stojakovic's nine-point spark off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Stojakovic finished with 13 points as one of three Illini in double figures. 

Illinois has advanced to the Elite Eight twice in a three-year span under head coach Brad Underwood, following the team's 2024 Elite Eight appearance. It is the program's first time going to two Elite Eights in a three-year span since a run of three third-place finishes in a four-year span under head coach Harry Combes in 1949, 1951, and 1952. Only Underwood, Combes, and Lou Henson (1984, 1989) have led Illinois to multiple Elite Eights. 

Illinois' Elite Eight opponent, No. 9-seeded Iowa, is coming off a 77-71 win over Nebraska. The Illini will look to advance to the sixth Final Four in program history at Saturday's South Regional Final.