Final Four! Illinois Beats Iowa 71-59 For a Trip to Indianapolis

Next Game:

vs. NCAA Final Four

4/4/2026 | TBA

TBS

Busey Bank Illini Sports Network

Apr. 04 (Sat) / TBA

vs. NCAA Final Four

History

HOUSTON —The Illinois men’s basketball team is headed to the Final Four after a 71-59 win over Iowa on Saturday night in Houston. The Fighting Illini will take on the winner of Duke vs. Connecticut (Sunday, 4:05 p.m. CT) on Saturday, April 4 in Indianapolis in the program’s sixth Final Four and first since 2005.

“This group is special,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “We beat a really good Iowa team who has played great. Our resilience was unbelievable. Guys just kept throwing body blows, we just kept hanging in there. Here I am an old juco coach from Kansas going to the Final Four with a group of guys that I love. Couldn’t be more proud.”

Illinois (28-8) outlasted Iowa in a heavyweight Big Ten bout with a +17 advantage in rebounding (38-21) and +28 advantage in points in the paint (40-12). After a 51-51 deadlock with 7:14 remaining, the Illini outscored the Hawkeyes 20-8 to run away with the win. Iowa did not score in the final two minutes, while Illinois finished on an 8-0 run.

All-American freshman Keaton Wagler turned in an All-American performance with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Wagler had 14 points in the second half, plus three assists, as he controlled the game and pushed the Illini to cut down the nets as NCAA Regional champions for the first time in over two decades. 

“He’s one of the best freshmen in America, he’s one of the best players in America,” said Underwood. “He was awesome tonight.”

Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points and Tomislav Ivisc had 13 points, including 11 in the second half on 5-of-8 shooting. For the second straight game Stojakovic leveled the Illini with a big first-half performance off the bench, scoring 10 points in the first 20 minutes on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting.

Iowa (24-13) threw the first punch by shooting 57% from the field (12-21) and 50% from three (6-12) in the first half to build a four-point lead, 32-28, at the break, but the Illini turned up the defensive heat in the second half. The Illinois defense limited Iowa to only six made shots in the second half, including only one from inside two-point range, as the Illini’s physicality and size advantage took over.  

Illinois’ banner season continues next Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, against either Duke or Connecticut. Illinois’ previous Final Four trips came in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, and 2005. 

HIGHLIGHTS

PRESS CONFERENCE

POSTGAME NOTES

Team

• Illinois advances to the Final Four for the sixth time in program history, and the first since finishing as national runner-up in 2005:
  • 2026: Final Four – Brad Underwood
  • 2005: Runner-Up – Bruce Weber
  • 1989: Final Four – Lou Henson
  • 1952: Third Place – Harry Combes
  • 1951: Third Place – Harry Combes
  • 1949: Third Place – Harry Combes
• Illinois moves to 28-8, the fourth-most wins in program history.
• Illinois’ six Final Four appearances are second-most among teams yet to win a national title, trailing only Houston (7), which Illinois defeated in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.
• Brad Underwood is the first head coach in Illinois program history to multiple seasons with 28+ wins.
  • 2005 – Bruce Weber, 37-2 – National Runner-Up
  • 1989 – Lou Henson, 31-5 – Final Four
  • 2024 – Brad Underwood, 29-9 – Elite Eight
  • 2026 – Brad Underwood, 28-8 – Final Four
• Illinois moved to 50-36 (.581) all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
• Brad Underwood joins Lou Henson (1989) Bruce Weber (2005) as the only Illinois head coaches to lead the Fighting Illini to the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975:
  • Lou Henson – 1989 Final Four
  • Bruce Weber – 2005 Final Four
  • Brad Underwood – 2026 Final Four
• Brad Underwood has led the Illini to NCAA Tournament wins in five of the last six years.
  • Underwood is now 12-9 for his career in the NCAA Tournament, including a 10-5 mark at Illinois.
  • Underwood’s 10 NCAA Tournament wins at Illinois are second-most in program history. He moves ahead of Bruce Weber and Harry Combes (9), and is two behind the program record held by Lou Henson (12).
  • Underwood has led the Illini to an 8-2 record over the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• Illinois earns its 50th NCAA Tournament victory (50-36).
  • The Illini’s 50 NCAA Tournament wins are second-most among teams yet to win a national championship, trailing only Purdue (53)
• Illinois improves to 96-77 all-time vs. Iowa, 4-3 vs. the Hawkeyes in neutral-site contests, and 1-0 when meeting in the NCAA Tournament.
  • The Illini won at Iowa in their lone Big Ten regular-season game of the season, 75-69, on Jan. 11 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The Illini are now 10-4 all-time as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois is 6-5 all-time in the NCAA Round of 8 all-time, and 5-4 since the field was expanded to 16 teams in 1951.
  • 2026 Elite 8 (Houston, Texas) – #3 Illinois 71, #9 Iowa 59
  • 2024 Elite 8 (Boston, Mass.) – #1 UConn 77, #3 Illinois 52
  • 2005 Elite 8 (Rosemont, Ill.) – #1 Illinois 90, #3 Arizona 89 (OT)
  • 2001 Elite 8 (San Antonio, Texas) – #2 Arizona 87, #1 Illinois 81
  • 1989 Elite 8 (Minneapolis, Minn.) – #1 Illinois 89, #2 Syracuse 86
  • 1984 Elite 8 (Lexington, Ky.) – #1 Kentucky 54, #2 Illinois 51
  • 1963 Sweet 16 (East Lansing, Mich.) – Loyola Chicago 79, Illinois 64
  • 1952 Sweet 16 (Chicago, Ill.) – Illinois 74, Duquesne 68
  • 1951 Regional Semifinal (New York, N.Y.) – Illinois 84, NC State 70
  • 1949 Regional Semifinal (New York, N.Y.) – Illinois 71, Yale 67
  • 1942 Regional Semifinal (New Orleans, La.) – Kentucky 46, Illinois 44
• Illinois is 4-1 all-time against No. 9 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
  • 2026 Elite 8 (Houston, Texas) – #3 Illinois 71, #9 Iowa 59
  • 2005 Second Round (Indianapolis, Ind.) – #1 Illinois 71, Nevada 59
  • 2001 Second Round (Dayton, Ohio) – #1 Illinois 79, Charlotte 61
  • 1994 First Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.) – #9 Georgetown 84, #8 Illinois 77
  • 1989 Second Round (Indianapolis, Ind.) – #1 Illinois 72, #9 Ball State 60
• The Illini are 37-16 (.698) as a higher (better) seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois is 1-1 all-time when facing a Big Ten rival in the NCAA Tournament.
  • 2026 Elite 8 (Houston, Texas) – #3 Illinois 71, #9 Iowa 59
  • 1989 Final 4 (Seattle, Wash.) – #3 Michigan 83, #1 Illinois 81
• The 2026 South Regional is the seventh hosted in Houston, Texas. Illinois is the first regional winner from Houston not seeded No. 1 or No. 2 since the NCAA began seeding the full tournament field in 1979.
  • 2026 South Regional at Toyota Center: #3 Illinois (TBD at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.)
  • 2015 South Regional at NRG Stadium: #1 Duke (National Champion at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.)
  • 2010 South Regional at NRG Stadium: #1 Duke (National Champion at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.)
  • 2008 South at NRG Stadium: #1 Memphis (National Runner-Up at Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas)
  • 1986 West Regional at The Summit: #2 Louisville (National Champion at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas)
  • 1980 Midwest Regional at The Summit: #2 Louisville (National Champion at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Ind.)
  • 1973 Midwest Regional at Fertitta Center: Memphis State (National Runner-Up at St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Mo.)
• Four of the previous six Houston Regionals have fed to Final Fours hosted in Indianapolis (last three at Lucas Oil Field)
• All six of previous winners of regionals hosted in Houston have gone on play in the national championship game, with four claiming the national title.
• Illinois has outrebounded its opponent in 30 of 36 games this season, with a 26-4 record when it wins the battle on the glass.

Players

• David Mirkovic posted nine points, a game-high 12 rebounds (five offensive), two assists and two steals.
  • 11th game of the season with 10+ rebounds, third in his first four NCAA Tournament games.
  • Averaging 14.8 points and 11.0 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Extended his Illinois freshman record for total rebounds to 292 boards. He broke the mark of 272 set by Kofi Cockburn in 2019-20 vs. Houston on Thursday.  
• Keaton Wagler was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP) for the NCAA Tournament South Region, pouring in a game-high 25 points (7-7 FTs) and tied for the game-high with three assists.
  • 10th game of the season with 20+ points, tying the Illinois freshman record set last season by Kasparas Jakucionis.
  • 28th consecutive game with 10+ points, and his team-leading 33rd double-figure scoring game, overall.
    • 19.1 points per game since Dec. 6.
  • 22nd game with multiple 3-pointers, fourth consecutive.
• Andrej Stojakovic tallied 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting with five rebounds (three offensive) and a steal.
  • 19th double-digit scoring game of the season, third consecutive in the NCAA Tournament.
    • Averaging 15.0 points in the NCAA tournament.
• Tomislav Ivisic posted 13 points with four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
  • 18th game of the season with 10+ points and 40th of his career.
  • 103 3-pointers are the most in the nation among 7-footers over the last two seasons.
  • Tied a season high with two blocks for the third time this season.