Illinois beats Iowa, returns to the Final Four for the first time since 2005

The win sends the No. 3 seed Illini (28-8, 15-5 Big Ten) back to the Final Four for the sixth time in program history and first since 2005.

The No. 9 seed Hawkeyes end their season with a 24-13 overall record and appeared in the Elite 8 for the first time since 1987.

Keaton Wagler led Illinois with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points, Tomislav Ivisic added 13 and David Mirkovic scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Bennett Stirtz led Iowa with 24 points. Tate Sage added 10.

Iowa gets off to hot start to take early 10-point lead

H1 15:21 | Iowa 12, Illinois 2

Iowa connected on five of its first six field goal attempts and limited Illinois to just one make on five looks to take an early 12-2 lead.

The Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of the game and Stirtz hit a triple to respond to Illinois' first field goal to put Iowa ahead by 10.

Illinois answers Iowa's early surge with 11-3 run

H1 11:47 | Iowa 15, Illinois 11

After its 1-of-5 start, Illinois hit three of its next five field goal attempts and went 3-of-5 at the free throw line to cut Iowa's lead to 15-11.

Stojakovic scored four points during the rally.

Iowa's lead down to two after Illinois offense catches fire

H1 7:43 | Iowa 22, Illinois 20

Illinois's offense remained red-hot as it extended its 3-of-5 shooting surge to 7-of-10, cutting the lead to 22-20.

Stirtz leads all players as the first to double figures with 10 through the first 12 minutes.

Iowa--Illinois in a delay as jumbotron, buzzer malfunction

As the under-eight media timeout came to a close, the horn sounded to signal to both teams to return to the floor.

Here’s what we were dealing with: pic.twitter.com/lERa40jLxB

— Ethan Petrik (@ethan_petrik) March 28, 2026

The buzzer did not stop sounding until the jumbotron at the Toyota Center was completely shut off.

Iowa remains in front as play resumes following delay

H1 3:39 | Iowa 27, Illinois 26

Play resumed after the jumbotron was turned off to silence the horn.

Iowa scored the first five points out of the stoppage, but Illinois rallied to score the next six and cut the lead back down to 27-26.

Iowa takes lead into the half, holds Illinois to 1-of-last-11

HALF | Iowa 32, Illinois 28

Illinois went 1-of-last-10 to close the first half to give Iowa a four-point lead at the break.

The Hawkeyes shot 12-of-22 (54.5%) in the frame. The Illini went 10-of-27 (37%).

Iowa, Illinois trading leads early in second half

H2 15:01 | Iowa 38, Illinois 39

A 5-0 start to the second half allowed Illinois to take its first lead of the contest. Mirkovic put the Illini in front with an and-one with 18:36 remaining in the game.

Stirtz led all players in the first half with 15. Wagler and Stojakovic scored 11 and 10, respectively, to lead Illinois.

Iowa answered with three-pointers from Tavion Banks and Cooper Koch.

Iowa, Illinois knotted up with 11 minutes to play

H2 11:23 | Iowa 46, Illinois 46

Illinois outscored the Hawkeyes 18-14 over the first eight minutes of the second half, leading to eight lead changes to begin the frame.

Ivisic led the Illini rally with seven points to begin the half.

Iowa, Illinois continue back-and-forth play

H2 7:27 | Iowa 51, Illinois 50

Neither team managed to score more than one field goal without an answer from the other side after Illinois' 5-0 run to start the half.

The two teams went blow-for-blow for more than 11 minutes with the lead changing hands 10 times.

Illinois begins to pull away as Iowa's offense stalls

H2 4:06 | Iowa 52, Illinois 60

As Iowa's offense continued to struggle, going more than five minutes without a field goal, Illinois took control of the game.

After Stirtz put the Hawkeyes in front 51-50 with 7:27 to play, the Illini scored 10 of the next 11 points to surge out to an eight-point lead.

The Universal Language of Basketball: Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras faced challenges learning English, now he’s one of March’s biggest stars

‘All Lies’: Iowa head coach Ben McCollum shoots down UNC rumors, wants to be like Kirk Ferentz

“I’d follow him anywhere”: How Ben McCollum landed at Iowa, built Hawkeyes’ Elite 8 roster