Illinois returns to Final Four: (3) Illini storm past (9) Iowa into first national semifinals since 2005

The roster construction for Illinois has always been impressive, but it's notable that the Fighting Illini have not had their full collection of talent for multiple stretches of this season. Andrej Stojakovic and Kylan Boswell missed time with injuries, and it took some time not only for those players to get back into rhythm but for the team to adjust to having its full collection of talent. They've gotten better defensively, rebounded really well and have continued the blistering offensive efficiency that's defined much of the season thanks to the explosion of Keaton Wagler.

Illinois got a great rebounding effort from its entire team, grabbing 38 boards compared to Iowa's 21. That included 16 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second-chance points. Freshman forward David Mirkovic led the way with a team-high 12 rebounds, but all eight rotation players got logged at least one rebound as Iowa simply did not have the bodies to keep the Fighting Illini off the glass. Iowa coach Ben McCollum tried to tinker with his lineup throughout the second half, including going small to try and stretch Illinois away from the basket, but even the guards were crashing the class and keeping the Hawkeyes limited to just one shot as much as possible.

Illinois star guard Keaton Wagler has been one of the best players in the country all season long and here in Houston he was recognized as the Most Outstanding Player of the South Regional. Wagler had a game-high 25 points in the win against Iowa and a double-double (13 points, team-high 12 rebounds) in the win against Houston. Against the Hawkeyes, Illinois let Wagler control the game in the final possessions and he was able to score, get to the line and set up his teammates for the game-sealing buckets. In a game that was extremely heavy with fouls and physical throughout, Wagler's ability to play through contact and beat his man on the dribble allowed him to be a difference-maker at the line with a 7-for-7 showing on free throws.

FINAL: Illinois 71, Iowa 59 

Illinois is headed to the Final Four for the first time since finishing as national runner-up in 2005 after a gritty win against a Big Ten foe. Keaton Wagler was outstanding in the performance, totaling 25 points to lead all scorers, and the resilience of the Fighting Illini was on full display as they roared back from an early 10-point deficit and took control of the game in the second half. Illinois out-rebounded Iowa, and won around the rim late to be able to keep pace with Bennett Stirtz and Iowa's shot-making. There is devastation for the Hawkeyes, being so close to the Final Four and even controlling the game early, but Illinois' ability to out-execute Iowa late made the difference. 

2H: Illinois 67, Iowa 59

Both teams are in the double bonus the rest of the way, Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic has fouled out and Iowa has two starters with four fouls each. Illinois is nursing a lead thanks to a series of key defensive stops, but now must contain Bennett Stirtz in crunch time if it wants to punch its ticket to the Final Four. 

2H: Illinois 60, Iowa 52 

Ben McCollum has called two timeouts in the last two minutes as he tinkers with his lineup and tries to make adjustments to stop Illinois' run here in the second half. The Fighting Illini have made five of their last five shots while Iowa has not made a field goal for 5:19 of game time. The Hawkeyes' three-point shooting keeps this game close even as we continue to build to the final minutes, but Illinois has been better on a possession-by-possession basis on both ends of the floor for the last couple of minutes.

2H: Illinois 50, Iowa 49 

The game itself has gotten a little clunky with even more fouls disrupting the flow of the play, but as the tension rises it's only highlighted some of the great individual play we are getting from each teams star guard. Bennett Stirtz has 22 of Iowa's 49 points and Keaton Wagler has 19 of Illinois' 50, and frequently each team's offensive possession is left with the ball in their star's hand looking to make a play. It's worth noting that both teams are already in the bonus, so free throws (like David Mirkovic's miss on a front end of a 1-and-1) are going to become huge down the stretch.

2H: Iowa 46, Illinois 46 

After Iowa led or was tied for most of the game, this game has gone back-and-forth for the last 8 minutes. There have been 8 lead changes in the first 8 minutes of the second half, and now we're all tied at the under-12 media timeout. The game continues to be extremely chippy and draw a tight whistle from an officiating crew looking to control the brutality of this Big Ten matchup, and it's going to be interesting to see how that stacks up to cause issues for individual players or the teams as we enter the final stages of the game. 

2H: Illinois 39, Iowa 38 

Illinois has outscored Iowa 11-6 in the opening minutes of the second half to claim the first lead of the game for the Illini, but it's been far from a start that you could say is "in control." Keaton Wagler has made some impressive individual plays and Tomislav Ivisic delivered a huge momentum three-pointer, but there have also been some mental lapses and ill-timed cheap fouls. A great sign for Iowa is Cooper Koch getting involved on the offensive end with his first three-pointer of the game, bringing the Hawkeyes' three-point edge to +6 in the game. We've also had three teams fouls quick for each team, so the game does seem to be pacing to having some important free throws late.

HALF: Iowa 32, Illinois 28 

First Iowa held a 10-point lead, then Illinois went on a run, then the scoreboard broke, they started using a handheld air horn, and both teams struggled to play cleanly the rest of the way. All said, the star of the first half is clearly Bennett Stirtz, who leads all scorers with 15 of Iowa's 32 points on 6-of-9 shooting with three three-pointers. No other Iowa player has more than two made field goals, and the Hawkeyes as a team have been a little sloppy with the ball totaling seven turnovers in the first half with a couple as unforced errors. But the same sloppiness is on display with Illinois as well, who has seven turnovers and just could not buy a bucket around the rim in the final minutes of the half. Illinois missed nine of its final 10 shots in the half and closed with a 2:23 scoring drought. With wild swings both ways and some chaos sure to follow, it's going to be a tight finish to determine who emerges from the South Regional headed to the Final Four.

1H: Iowa 27, Illinois 26 

The scoreboard is still blank, and the officials at the scorers table are using a handheld air horn to alert officials for substitutions, but otherwise our excellent Elite Eight showdown between these Big Ten foes is back on track. Both teams are shooting 50% or better from the field and the same advantages remain with Iowa having four more made three-pointers and Illinois benefiting from a rebounding edge on the glass. Illinois has done a good job of getting downhill and attacking the rim, not only to generate points but also draw some fouls from Iowa as the Illini now find themselves in the bonus. The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, have missed their last four shots and haven't scored in more than three minutes of game time. 

The scoreboard remains blank but the horn is no longer malfunctioning. Total time of the delay was approximately 11 minutes, and if we are going to make some quick assumptions on who the delay benefited it is Iowa off to a 5-0 run after the break. 

Both teams have resorted to warm-up activities because play has been stopped. The horn on the scoreboard seems to be stuck, and the officials have decided not to resume play out of the TV timeout until they are able to resolve the issue. The horn has not disrupted any game play so far as it occurred during the timeout with 7:43 left in the first half, but this certainly has changed the flow for both teams.

1H: Iowa 22, Illinois 20 

Things are getting feisty here in the Toyota Center as Illinois has finally allowed its first free throw attempt in the first half of the NCAA Tournament and in total we've had 9 fouls through 12 minutes of play. Bennett Stirtz continues to pace Iowa's offensive efforts with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Illinois is getting a one-two punch from Keaton Wagler and Andrej Stojakovic, who provided some crucial offense off the bench to answer Iowa's hot start. Illinois has the advantage on rebounds, Iowa has an advantage on three-pointers, and what it's left us with is a two-point game at the under-8 timeout.

1H: Iowa 15, Illinois 11 

Illinois' size advantage has started to show up with offensive rebounds and plays around the rim. The Fighting Illini have grabbed four offensive rebounds off their six missed shots, and second chance points helped fuel a 9-0 run to get back into the game. The difference in the game right now is showing up behind the three-point line, as Bennett Stirtz's one-legged three just before the TV timeout has Iowa 3-for-5 from behind the arc while Illinois has yet to to make a three. The Illini's run was at 9-0 before Stirtz snapped it with his second three of the game, and now we are starting to see the chess match really begin between these coaches.

1H: Iowa 12, Illinois 2 

Iowa has raced out to a 10-point lead on the back of some hot shooting, fluid offensive execution and some sloppy Illinois offense. The Fighting Illini had turnovers on their first two possessions and have missed four of their first five shots. It looks like Brad Underwood is going to mix things up with his lineup, looking to bring in Stojakovic and Humrichous out of the timeout. Iowa, on the other hand, has made 5 of its first 6 shots, including 3 three-pointers. 

Greetings from courtside in the Toyota Center where Illinois and Iowa are about go through starting lineups and get the Elite Eight started. As you might expect with two massive alumni bases and a shot for the Final Four on the line … it's already pretty loud. In terms of crowd split it's maybe 55-45 Iowa? I suppose when you take out the No. 1 seed like the Hawkeyes did in the Round of 32 there's a more clear path, but Illinois fans have been flooding into town ever since they beat Houston on Thursday night. It's an all-Big Ten affair, but Midwestern pleasantries are about to flip into corn-fueled rage.

Iowa coach Ben McCollum has joined some elite company by advancing to the Regional Final in his first year as a head coach with the Hawkeyes. Only three other Big Ten coaches have reached the Elite Eight in their first year with a program, and it's a fairly impressive list. Bill Self got Illinois to the Elite Eight in his first year with the Illini in 2001, Steve Fisher had Michigan in the Elite Eight and all the way to the national championship in 1989 and Iowa's Tom Davis got the Hawkeyes to this stage back in his first year with the school in 1989.

Ever since the bracket expanded and began seeding teams, the No. 3 vs. No. 9 matchup in the Elite Eight has been a rarity. Tonight's game is just the fifth instance all-time of the No. 3 seed going head-to-head with No. 9 on this stage. The No. 3 seed is 3-1 all-time, but the most recent result featured No. 9 seed FAU taking down No. 3 Kansas State in 2023. 

1981: No. 3 Indiana def. No. 9 Saint Joseph's 

1994: No. 3 Florida def. No. 9 Boston College 

2018: No. 3 Michigan def. No. 9 Florida State 

2023: No. 9 FAU def. No. 3 Kansas State 

Illinois beat Iowa 74-69 in Iowa City earlier this season in a game that was somewhat disjointed in nature. The Fighting Illini raced out to an early lead and at one point held an 18-point advantage only to see the Iowa slowly but surely chip away at the deficit. That game was back on Jan. 11, and for Iowa's part the Hawkeyes are playing much better than when they were stumbling out of the blocks in Big Ten play. Keaton Wagler discussed how that game informs Illinois' approach in terms of making sure they put Iowa away if given the opportunity, because just as the Hawkeyes came back from a double-digit deficit in the Sweet 16 win against Nebraska there will be no lead that is safe if the Illini have lapses like they did in Iowa City.

First-year Iowa coach won four national championships at D-II Northwest Missouri State but picked up a large piece of Iowa's 2026 production during his one year with Drake last season. McCollum was joined by six players from Drake after he was hired, including last year's Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz, who this year collected All-Big Ten honors. Iowa's second-leading scorer Tavion Banks is another part of the Drake infusion, and in total 64% of Iowa's points this season have come from former Drake players.

Iowa is just the second team ever to face multiple conference opponents in an NCAA Tournament before the Final Four, joining Kentucky in 1986. That year, the No. 1 seed Wildcats faced both Alabama and LSU in the Southeast Regional, beating the Crimson Tide and then losing to the Dale Brown's 11-seed Tigers in the Elite Eight. Iowa has a similar experience in having both of its conference foes in back-to-back games at the same site, but unlike those Wildcats it's the Hawkeyes playing the underdog role with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

This is the 17th meeting between schools from the same conference in the Elite Eight since seeding began in 1979, and the first time the Big Ten has had two teams play each other in the Elite Eight since 2000. As an interesting wrinkle to this unique intra-conference games, the worst seeded teams are 12-4 in the previous 16 meetings and have won four straight. Illinois-Iowa is just the third instance of the Big Ten having two teams play each other in the Elite Eight, and in both of the previous instances (1992, 2000) the worst-seeded team won to advance to the Final Four. So while Illinois might be favored in the matchup, the history of these conference foe showdowns has trends pointing to Iowa.

Iowa has been outstanding in tight games during this NCAA Tournament run, storming back to steal the win against Nebraska in the Sweet 16, out-muscling Florida in the Round of 32 and out-executing Clemson in the Round of 64. It's produced a +13 point differential for the tournament, which is the lowest for a team in the Elite Eight since Loyola Chicago in 2018. Of course, the good news for the Hawkeyes is that Loyola team rode its confidence from close wins all the way to the Final Four.

A huge key to Illinois' success in this tournament has been the ability to play high-level defense without sending teams to the free throw line. The Fighting Illini have the fewest free throws allowed (10) through three games in NCAA Tournament history and have no allowed a single free throw attempt in the first half in any of their tournament wins. Cleaning up the defense has been a big key for Illinois after entering the postseason with an already elite offense, and through three games the Fighting Illini have the third-best adjusted defensive efficiency rating in tournament play among the Elite Eight teams.

Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz has played all 120 minutes of Iowa's 2026 NCAA Tournament run, and in total he's logged 43 games with 40+ minutes played in the last two seasons, which is 18 more than any other Division I player in that span. Arguably even more impressive than just the raw conditioning in the focus and execution throughout, as Stirtz has played all 120 minutes of the tournament while committing zero fouls and just one turnover.

This is the 173rd meeting all-time between Illinois and Iowa in men's basketball, a series that goes back to 1908. Illinois leads the all-time series 95-77 but things have been particularly slanted in recent years. The Fighting Illini have won five straight and 10 of the past 11 meetings, but this is the first-ever time they have played in an NCAA Tournament.