Ad Disclosure
Iowa pulls off another upset, outlasts Nebraska to punch ticket to Elite 8
Published:
Iowa stunned the college basketball world last Sunday night with a second-round takedown of defending national champion Florida.
Four nights later, the 9th-seeded Hawkeyes showed that upset of the Gators might have just been the beginning of a special NCAA Tournament run. Shaking off a 3-point deficit at halftime against Big Ten rival Nebraska, Iowa forged its way into its first Elite 8 since 1987, knocking off the 4th-seeded Cornhuskers, 77-71, in a South Region semifinal on Thursday night in Houston.
Down 5 points with 9:15 to go, the Hawkeyes (24-12) once again didn’t flinch, seizing a 68-65 lead with 2:10 left on Bennett Stirtz’s 3-pointer. Then it was Tate Sage’s turn, as he drilled his own 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining to complete a stirring 9-0 run and give Iowa a 71-65 lead.
That was effectively it for Nebraska, with second-round hero Alvaro Folgueiras’s basket giving the Hawkeyes an 8-point cushion with 34 seconds left as Iowa once again owned the stretch against a higher-seeded team to steal away with another stunning victory. The Hawkeyes will be playing on Saturday now, as they wait for the winner of Thursday’s late regional semifinal between second-seeded Houston and third-seeded Illinois.
Iowa doesn’t know when it’ll be playing on Saturday yet, just that it’ll be playing for a trip to the Final Four that would’ve seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago. It’ll likely be an underdog whoever it plays, but that hasn’t mattered so far to the Hawkeyes, who were led by Stirtz’s 20 points and 4 assists in Thursday night’s comeback victory.
Sage added 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench, and Folgueiras, who nailed that memorable last-second 3-pointer to beat Florida in the second round, added 16 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting.
Cooper Koch chipped in 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Iowa was efficient in rallying for the win, shooting 52% from the field and 43% from 3-point territory to stun the Cornhuskers and advance again. The Hawkeyes also took care of the ball, turning it over only 5 times on Thursday night to head to its first Elite 8 in 39 years.
Nebraska (28-7) saw a season that started with so much promise end in crushing fashion despite outrebounding Iowa, 35-26. Pryce Sandfort led the Huskers with 25 points, shooting 6 of 10 from 3-point land, but it wasn’t enough, with Braden Frager being the only other Nebraska player to score in double figures with 16 points off the bench.
With Iowa still alive and well in this NCAA Tournament, the Hawkeyes are now 1 victory away from barnstorming their way to a most unlikely Final Four. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently seeing with the top teams in the mix to advance to Indianapolis next week:
