For the first time in 21 years, Illinois is en route to the Final Four after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes 71 – 59. The last time the Illini advanced to the Final Four was in 2005, when they beat Louisville by 15.
Takeaways
Illinois: The Illini started off slow as they started the game with two turnovers and three missed shots. This allowed Iowa to jump to a ten-point lead, which is the largest lead Illinois has allowed in the tournament.
Then, coming out of a timeout, an audible buzzing sound began to echo around the arena, which caused the game to be delayed by 11 minutes. The arena’s airhorn malfunctioned, and the whole system had to be turned off for the rest of the game. This delay allowed Illinois to regroup and start to cut into Iowa’s double-digit lead.
Junior guard Andre Stojakovic and freshman guard Keaton Wagler began to make shots, and the Illini found themselves back in the game, trailing by a point. But the rough shooting came back to haunt Illinois as the Illini would go on to miss their next seven shots. This kept Illinois from getting its first lead and went into halftime trailing by four points.
In the second half, Illinois forced Iowa to miss its first two shots, which opened the window for freshman David Mirkovic to make an and-1 layup to give Illinois its first lead of the game. Junior center Tomislav Ivisic followed that with the team’s first three-pointer in over 12 minutes of game time. As the Orange and Blue fans erupted in the arena with that shot, Illinois was back in the game with some momentum.
After trading the lead 13 times, Illinois finally was able to string together four consecutive scoring possessions to gain an eight-point lead with three minutes remaining in the game. As the final buzzer sounded students paraded around Green St. and celebrated the historic win
Wagler ended the night with 25 points and Stojakovic ended with 17 points.
Iowa: Hawkeyes senior guard Bennet Stirtz was easily finding his three-point shot as he scored 15 points in the first half. Stirtz’s hot start helped Iowa get off to an early lead and helped control the tempo of the game.
Even after Illinois started to chip away at the lead, Iowa made sure it did not let up defensively. Iowa’s defense was the key to keeping the momentum and control of the game. By taking advantage of Illinois’s poor shooting in the first half, Iowa kept amping up the pressure and getting key stops to halt Illinois from going on any scoring run.
As the Iowa fans started to raise their voices, the Hawkeyes forced Illinois to commit seven turnovers. This allowed Iowa to score seven extra points and go into halftime with the lead.
Coming out of the break, the Hawkeyes knew their lead was short, but there was a sense of hope that they would be able to get back to the Final Four after 46 years. But after a hot start to the first half, Iowa grew cold to begin the second and let Illinois take its first lead of the game.
The team tried to lean on Stirtz to get them back in the game, but it seemed like he found his cold streak, missing three consecutive three-pointers.
The back-and-forth battle between the Hawkeyes and the Illini continued for 15 minutes, with neither team able to build a two-possession lead. That is, until Iowa let Illinois go on a eight scoring run. For the first time in the game, the Hawkeyes have lost momentum and are chasing the Illini for the lead.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini Men’s Basketball team will head to Indiana for the Final Four matchup that will tipoff on Saturday.
