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 Dominant Defensive Effort Sends Illinois To NCAA Elite Eight 

Published on March 27, 2026 6:30 am
Last Updated on March 27, 2026 6:30 am

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BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

HOUSTON — A dominant defensive effort has sent the Illinois men’s basketball team to the Elite Eight. The Fighting Illini are one win away from the Final Four after a Sweet-16 victory over No. 2-seeded and No. 5-ranked Houston, 65-55, at the Toyota Center in Houston on Thursday night.

Illinois (27-8) advanced to face Big Ten rival Iowa on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. CT in the 11th Elite Eight in program history after holding Houston (30-7) to 34% shooting (22-64). The Illini owned the glass with a 43-34 rebounding edge and limited Houston to only two free throw attempts for a 10-point difference from the line.

David Mirkovic and Keaton Wagler each posted double-doubles to lead the Illini, with Mikrovic going for 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Wagler had 13 points and a game-high and career-high 12 boards. It was the first points/rebounds double-double of Wagler’s All-American freshman season.

After a first-half slugfest, Illinois went on a game-changing 17-0 run that spanned 6:46 to build a 44-26 lead with 11:54 left in the game. It was the longest run allowed by Houston over the past eight seasons, and the Cougars never got the game closer than seven points after the run.

Wagler and Mirkovic each came alive in the second half, combining for 18 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists and accounting for seven of Illinois’ 12 made shots of the half. After a first half scoring on 42% of its possessions, Illinois exploded for 41 second-half points, scoring on 62% of possessions.

Both teams traded blows in the first half, leading to season lows for points in a half for both teams and the lowest scoring half of the NCAA Tournament thus far. Illinois took a 24-22 lead into the break, led by Andrej Stojakovic’s nine-point spark off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Stojakovic finished with 13 points as one of three Illini in double figures.

Illinois has advanced to the Elite Eight twice in a three-year span under head coach Brad Underwood, following the team’s 2024 Elite Eight appearance. It is the program’s first time going to two Elite Eights in a three-year span since a run of three third-place finishes in a four-year span under head coach Harry Combes in 1949, 1951, and 1952. Only Underwood, Combes, and Lou Henson (1984, 1989) have led Illinois to multiple Elite Eights.

Illinois’ Elite Eight opponent, No. 9-seeded Iowa, is coming off a 77-71 win over Nebraska. The Illini will look to advance to the sixth Final Four in program history at Saturday’s South Regional Final.

In other NCAA games Thursday:

Purdue 79, Texas 77

Iowa 77, Nebraska 71

Arizona 109, Arkansas 88

POSTGAME NOTES

Team

  • Illinois moves to 27-8, tied for the fourth-most wins in program history.
  • Illinois picks up its third win over a top-five ranked opponent of the season, tying the program record set in 1951-52. This season, the Illini have wins at No. 4 Purdue (88-82) on Jan. 24, at No. 5 Nebraska (78-69) on Feb. 1, and vs. No. 5 Houston (65-55) on Thursday.
  • Brad Underwood is the first head coach in Illinois program history to win 27+ games in multiple seasons.
    • 2005 – Bruce Weber, 37-2 – National Runner-Up
    • 1989 – Lou Henson, 31-5 – Final Four
    • 2024 – Brad Underwood, 29-9 – Elite Eight
    • 2025 – Brad Underwood, 27-8 – Elite Eight
    • 2001 – Bill Self, 27-8 – Elite Eight
  • Illinois moved to 49-36 (.576) all-time in NCAA Tournament games
  • Illinois advances to the Elite Eight for the second time in three seasons under Brad Underwood, and for the sixth time since the tournament field was expanded to 32 in 1975.
  • The Fighting Illini own 11 all-time Elite Eight appearances.
    • 2026 Elite Eight – Brad Underwood
    • 2024 Elite Eight – Brad Underwood
    • 2005 Runner-Up – Bruce Weber
    • 2001 Elite Eight – Bill Self
    • 1989 Final Four – Lou Henson
    • 1984 Elite Eight – Lou Henson
    • 1963 Elite Eight – Harry Combes
    • 1952 Third Place – Harry Combes
    • 1951 Third Place – Harry Combes
    • 1949 Third Place – Harry Combes
    • 1942 Elite Eight – Doug Mills
  • Illinois advances to the Elite Eight twice in a three-year span, following the team’s 2024 Elite Eight appearance, for the first time since a run of three national third-place finishes in a four-year span under head coach Harry Combes in 1949, 1951, and 1952.
  • Brad Underwood joins Lou Henson as the only Illinois head coaches to lead the Fighting Illini to multiple Elite Eight appearances since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975:
    • Lou Henson (4) – 1984 Elite Eight & 1989 Final Four
    • Brad Underwood (2) – 2026 Elite Eight & 2024 Elite Eight
  • Brad Underwood has led the Illini to NCAA Tournament wins in five of the last six years.
    • Underwood is now 11-9 for his career in the NCAA Tournament, including a 9-5 mark at Illinois.
    • Underwood’s nine NCAA Tournament wins at Illinois are tied with Bruce Weber and Harry Combes (9), and three behind the program record held by Lou Henson (12).
  • Illinois improves to 4-3 all-time vs. Houston, and 1-1 vs. the Cougars in NCAA Tournament matchups.
  • The Illini are now 9-4 all-time as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Illinois is 9-4 all-time in the NCAA Round of 16 since the field was expanded to 16 teams in 1951.
  • Illinois is 3-3 all-time against the No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
    • 2026 Regional Semifinal (Houston, Texas) – #3 Illinois 65, #2 Houston 55
    • 2024 Regional Semifinal (Boston, Mass) – #3 Illinois 72, #2 Iowa State 69
    • 2013 Round of 32 (Austin, Texas) – #2 Miami 63, #7 Illinois 59
    • 2001 Regional Final (San Antonio, Texas) – #2 Arizona 87, #1 Illinois 81
    • 1989 Regional Final (Minneapolis, Minn.) – #1 Illinois 89, #2 Syracuse 77
    • 1985 Regional Semifinal (Providence, R.I.) – #2 Georgia Tech 61, #3 Illinois 53
  • The Illini are 4-13 (.235) as a lower (worse) seed in the NCAA Tournament.
    • Brad Underwood owns two of Illinois’ four all-time victories as the worse-seeded team in an NCAA Tournament matchup, leading the 3-seeded Illini to Elite Eight berths with victories over 2-seeded Iowa State in 2024, and 2-seeded Houston this season.
  • Illinois led, 24-22, at halftime and improved to 23-5 this season when leading at the break.
    • Eighth game of the season in which the Illini allowed 25 or fewer points in the first half (8-0)
    • Illinois’ 24 points at halftime were the team’s fewest in a first half (31 vs. Michigan, Feb. 27) and fewest in any half (29 vs. UConn, Nov. 28) this season.
    • The Illini held Houston to its season low for points in a half (22).
    • The two teams’ combined 46 points at half were the lowest in any NCAA Tournament game this season.
  • Illinois broke the game open with a 17-0 run, spanning 6:46 in the second half, the longest scoring run allowed by Houston in any game over the last eight seasons.
  • Illinois has outrebounded its opponent in 29 of 35 games this season, with a 25-4 record when it wins the battle on the glass.
  • The 55 points scored by Houston are the ninth-fewest allowed in a winning NCAA Tournament effort in Illinois program history.

Players

  • David Mirkovic led the team in scoring with 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out two assists, and blocked a shot.
    • Broke the Illinois freshman record for total rebounds with 280 boards this season, surpassing the mark of 272 set by Kofi Cockburn in 2019-20.
    • Played in his 27th Illini victory of the season, joining classmate Keaton Wagler in breaking the Illinois freshman wins record previously held at 26 by Brian Randle (2003-04), Luther Head (2001-02), and Tom Schafer (1983-84).
    • Team-most ninth double-double of the season, and second of the postseason following his 29-point, 17-rebound game in Round 1 vs. Penn.
      • Sixth player in Illinois history with multiple double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament, joining James Augustine (3), Tomislav Ivisic (2), Deron Williams (2), Brian Cook (2), and Nick Anderson (2)
      • Along with Keaton Wagler (13 points,12 rebounds) became the first pair of freshman teammates to each have a double-double in the same NCAA tournament game since freshmen became fully eligible in 1972-73.
    • 27th game of the season in double-figures scoring.
    • 18th game of the season with multiple 3-pointers.
    • 10th game of the season with 10+ rebounds
    • .
  • Keaton Wagler tallied 13 points, secured a team high 12 rebounds, recorded three assists and tied his career high with two blocked shots.
    • Played in his 27th Illini victory of the season, joining classmate David Mirkovic in breaking the Illinois freshman wins record previously held at 26 by Brian Randle (2003-04), Luther Head (2001-02), and Tom Schafer (1983-84).
    • 27th consecutive game with 10+ points, and his team-leading 32nd double-figure scoring game, overall.
      • 18.9 points per game since Dec. 6.
    • Career-high 12 rebounds.
    • 21st game with multiple 3-pointers, third consecutive.
      • 14th game with 3+ 3-pointers.
    • 10th game with at least one block, fourth in his last five.
    • Along with David Mirkovic (14 points,10 rebounds) became the first pair of freshman teammates to each have a double-double in the same NCAA tournament game since freshmen became fully eligible in 1972-73.
    • Posted his third double-double of the season, becoming third freshman in Illinois program history to record a double-double in the NCAA Tournament:
  • Andrej Stojakovic added 13 points on an efficient 5-for-8 from the floor with two assists and a steal.
    • 18th double-digit scoring game of the season, second consecutive in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Tomislav Ivisic scored nine points, secured three rebounds, and dished out three assists.
    • 102 3-pointers are the most in the nation among 7-footers over the last two seasons.