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Illinois stuns Houston, sets up Elite 8 showdown with Big Ten rival Iowa
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Illinois outlasted Big Ten rival Iowa way back on Jan. 11 in Iowa City in a battle of ranked teams.
Now, the 2 old conference foes will clash on Saturday with something way bigger on the line. Because a few hours after No. 9 seed Cinderella Iowa pulled its latest stunner and beat yet another Big Ten foe in Nebraska, it was Illinois’ turn to take center stage in the second South Region semifinal in Houston.
The third-seeded Fighting Illini did exactly that, taking down No. 2 seed Houston in its home city in a 65-55 Sweet 16 victory that set up an all-Big Ten regional final on Saturday. Unlike that January meeting, this Illinois-Iowa showdown will have everything on the line, with a trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis at stake.
Somebody from the Big Ten will be heading to the Final Four come late Saturday night, and Purdue will be playing Arizona on Saturday for a trip to Indy out of the West Region. So, the Big Ten will have the rare opportunity to get 2 of its teams in the Final Four on the very same day.
With 6 Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16, the conference has taken center stage, and late Thursday it was Illinois (27-8) that took a 24-22 lead at halftime on the Cougars and then took it from there, holding off a furious Houston rally late in the second half after taking a 58-41 lead. The Cougars (30-7) cut the deficit to 7 on 2 occasions in the final moments, but the Fighting Illini had the answers late and now have a very familiar foe as their last obstacle to Indianapolis.
Illinois and Iowa will square for the second time this season at about 6:09 p.m. ET on Saturday in Houston, with the all-Big affair being the early game before the West Region final between Arizona and Purdue.
Houston had cut Illinois’ lead to 50-41 with a little over 5 minutes left, so things were already getting interesting long before the Cougars made it a 7-point game real late. But the Fighting Illini didn’t flinch, with Tomislav Ivisic banging down a 3-pointer from near the top of the key and Keaton Wagler nailing a 3-pointer from the left wing to instantly put the lead back to 15 at 56-41.
Those clutch shots from long distance led to the 17-point cushion Illinois briefly enjoyed before Houston made its ill-fated last-ditch run to save its season.
Wagler scored 13 points in a balanced effort for the Illini, adding 12 rebounds. David Mirkovic also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Illinois got a stellar effort off the bench from Andrej Stojakovic, who poured in a huge 13 points that made a big difference in such a tight, low-scoring game.
Illinois also had a 43-34 rebounding advantage that proved to be a big difference. Its defense squeezed the life out of the high-octane Cougars, who only had 2 players score in double figures in Emanuel Sharp (17 points) and Kingston Flemings, who had 11.
Houston shot just 34% from the field and 28% from 3-point territory, and Illinois made the key stops near the finish line to get to the Elite 8 and another matchup with those Hawkeyes.
With Illinois suddenly just 1 victory from the Final Four, here is what the Kalshi market is currently seeing for the Fighting Illini and the other top teams in the mix to get to Indianapolis next week:
