HOUSTON — Indy, here we come.
For the first time since the legendary Fighting Illini team of 2004-05, Illinois is heading to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four.
Illinois punched its ticket to Indianapolis with a 71-59 win over Big Ten rival No. 9 Iowa in the South Region Final on Saturday night in Houston.
The first half left a lot to be desired. Down 9-0 off the bat and 12-2 just five minutes in, the opening stanza belonged to Bennett Stirtz and the Toyota Center buzzer.
Stirtz, Iowa’s star guard, finished
the half with 15 points, including several tough threes and shots while guarded heavily by Kylan Boswell, leading the Hawkeyes to a 32-28 lead. When the two teams met in Iowa City back in January and Illinois won by six, Stirtz was awfully quiet.
But it was the buzzer that caused an 11-minute delay just when Illinois was getting some momentum down 22-20. It just wouldn’t go off, causing the game to pause and the teams to even bring the ball racks out to the court.
While Illinois missed a bunch of shots at the rim in the first half and turned it over seven times, Andrej Stojakovic was a bright spot, scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting and a pair of made free throws. His aggression made up for a less-than-stellar performance from freshman David Mirkovic, who has become a star in the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois needed a big night from its own superstar, Keaton Wagler. He picked up a foul 20 seconds into the game, but played cleanly the rest of the half. However, Iowa made life difficult for him, including on the first half’s final possession when he was forced into traveling and couldn’t get off a shot to cut into the four-point Iowa lead.
In the second half, Illinois scored the first five points to grab its first lead at 33-32. Early on it included a three from Tomislav Ivisic and tough shots from Wagler. That duo played big throughout the half, getting the Illini to a 58-51 lead.
Is this my finest work for a recap? No. Is this feeling incredible? Yes. Much more to come in the coming hours and days.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
He’s a wizard.
Beautiful.
UP NEXT
The Final Four in Indianapolis.
It starts next Saturday, April 4. Illinois will face either No. 1 Duke or No. 2 UCONN for a trip to the national championship game.
