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Ben McCollum’s dream run through the NCAA tournament is over.
No. 3 Illinois finally pulled away from the Hawkeyes late in the second half on Saturday night in their Elite Eight matchup to grab a 71-59 win at the Toyota Center in Houston. That officially secured the Illini their first trip to the Final Four since 2005, when they fell in the national title game to North Carolina.
The Illini will now await either No. 1 Duke or No. 2 UConn in the Final Four next weekend in Indianapolis.
The Hawkeyes came out right away and opened the game on a 12-2 run, which put Illinois down by its largest deficit of the tournament so far in the first few minutes of the contest. But the game came to a screeching halt midway through the period after the buzzer inside the Toyota Center wouldn’t shut off.
Play stopped for 11 minutes in total, and both teams eventually came back out onto the floor running warm-up drills while the buzzer annoyed fans throughout the Houston arena.
Eventually, officials got the horn to shut off. But that left one man on the scorer’s table using an air horn for the rest of the game.
When play finally got going again, Iowa star Bennett Stirtz drilled a layup and then hit a 3-pointer right away to put the Hawkeyes back up by seven. Eventually, they took a four-point lead into the break. Stirtz had a game-high 15 points at halftime.
Illinois took its first lead of the game just minutes into the second half, after David Mirkovic converted an and-one layup. While Iowa was getting absolutely worked on the glass, and made just three of its first nine field goal attempts in the second half, the Hawkeyes hung in there for a while. But eventually, Illinois finally pulled away.
The Illini used a 10-1 run capped by a an alley-oop from Zvonimir Ivisic, and held Iowa without a made field goal for more than five minutes, to break open an eight-point lead.
While Iowa ended its dry spell — Isaiah Howard hit a 3-pointer on the other end after a timeout — it was too late. Illinois finally held onto its lead for good and rolled the rest of the way to the 12-point win. Iowa went just 1-of-13 from the floor since its last lead at 51-50.
Stirtz finished with 24 points for the Hawkeyes, who were playing in their first Elite Eight since 1987 in McCollum’s first year with the program. As a No. 9 seed, they were the lowest seeded Big Ten team to ever reach the Elite Eight, too. Tate Sage added 10 points off the bench, but they were the only two in double figures. Iowa managed just 20 rebounds to Illinois’ 35, too.
Keaton Wagler led Illinois with 25 points after he went 8-of-17 from the field in the win. Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points off the bench, and Tomislav Ivisic had 13 points.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
Continue reading...
No. 3 Illinois finally pulled away from the Hawkeyes late in the second half on Saturday night in their Elite Eight matchup to grab a 71-59 win at the Toyota Center in Houston. That officially secured the Illini their first trip to the Final Four since 2005, when they fell in the national title game to North Carolina.
The Illini will now await either No. 1 Duke or No. 2 UConn in the Final Four next weekend in Indianapolis.
Iowa survives horn delay in first half
The Hawkeyes came out right away and opened the game on a 12-2 run, which put Illinois down by its largest deficit of the tournament so far in the first few minutes of the contest. But the game came to a screeching halt midway through the period after the buzzer inside the Toyota Center wouldn’t shut off.
Play stopped for 11 minutes in total, and both teams eventually came back out onto the floor running warm-up drills while the buzzer annoyed fans throughout the Houston arena.
Eventually, officials got the horn to shut off. But that left one man on the scorer’s table using an air horn for the rest of the game.
When play finally got going again, Iowa star Bennett Stirtz drilled a layup and then hit a 3-pointer right away to put the Hawkeyes back up by seven. Eventually, they took a four-point lead into the break. Stirtz had a game-high 15 points at halftime.
Illinois ends Iowa’s run
Illinois took its first lead of the game just minutes into the second half, after David Mirkovic converted an and-one layup. While Iowa was getting absolutely worked on the glass, and made just three of its first nine field goal attempts in the second half, the Hawkeyes hung in there for a while. But eventually, Illinois finally pulled away.
The Illini used a 10-1 run capped by a an alley-oop from Zvonimir Ivisic, and held Iowa without a made field goal for more than five minutes, to break open an eight-point lead.
While Iowa ended its dry spell — Isaiah Howard hit a 3-pointer on the other end after a timeout — it was too late. Illinois finally held onto its lead for good and rolled the rest of the way to the 12-point win. Iowa went just 1-of-13 from the floor since its last lead at 51-50.
Stirtz finished with 24 points for the Hawkeyes, who were playing in their first Elite Eight since 1987 in McCollum’s first year with the program. As a No. 9 seed, they were the lowest seeded Big Ten team to ever reach the Elite Eight, too. Tate Sage added 10 points off the bench, but they were the only two in double figures. Iowa managed just 20 rebounds to Illinois’ 35, too.
Keaton Wagler led Illinois with 25 points after he went 8-of-17 from the field in the win. Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points off the bench, and Tomislav Ivisic had 13 points.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
Continue reading...
