HOUSTON — The Illinois fans lingered in the stands long after the 71-59 Elite Eight win over Iowa on Saturday night at the Toyota Center, watching the small moments that have been years in the making.
The trophy presentation and the naming of Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler, who scored 25 points, as the South Region MVP came first. Then there was the net cutting. Brad Underwood, in his ninth year as Illinois coach, went after all of his players, putting the net around his neck and raising both arms, scissors still in hand, to the crowd.
Afterward, the Illini wandered around in the orange and blue confetti scattered on the court. They hugged family. They posed for photos with copies of the Daily Illini that shouted “Final Four” in giant orange letters.
Junior forward Tomislav Ivišić, a Croatian flag draped around his back, grabbed the arena microphone. Ivišić, often more reserved than some of his animated teammates, didn’t know what else to say, so he started the I-L-L chant with the crowd.
“I thought, ‘Let’s try it. It’s my time,’” he said.
After 21 years, it’s the Illini’s time again.
Illinois fought back from a 10–point first-half deficit against sudden-Cinderella Iowa. The Illini stayed focused through a wild, extended stoppage in play because of an arena horn-blaring malfunction. They weathered a big performance from Iowa star guard Bennett Stirtz and traded blows with the Hawkeyes — until they finally could pull away in the final minutes.
Now, they are headed to the Final Four for the sixth time in program history and first time since the 2005 run to the national championship game. They advance to Saturday’s national semifinal in Indianapolis and will play the winner of the Duke-Connecticut game in the East Region Final, which will be played at 4:05 p.m. Sunday.
Photos: Illinois students celebrate Final Four berth on campus
“The greatest moment was standing on the ladder and holding the net because that was for the people,” Underwood said. “I could look up there and see the crowd. I could imagine what’s going on on Green Street right now and on our campus, and that’s a thank you. You come with a vision to try to make something great, and you understand you’re creating memories for a lot of people. That’s something I take a lot of enjoyment in.
“I didn’t doubt we would get there. I just didn’t know when. It knew it was hard. I’m very, very grateful for everybody that has helped along the way.”
Underwood said all season that he believed this team had national championship potential. He thought they had the right talent, size, makeup and chemistry with the returns of Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivišić, Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis and the additions of Andrej Stojaković, Keaton Wagler, David Mirković and Zvonimir Ivišić. They’re effectively a starting eight, Underwood said.
And the players believed it too, starting after a Nov. 11 game when the Illini beat a ranked Texas Tech team, Wagler said.
“We huddled up right after that game and we knew we had something special,” Wagler said. “Andrej said it. He’s like, ‘We’ve got something special. Let’s not waste it.’”
Even during the Illini’s stumbles along the way in the regular season — big losses to Connecticut and Michigan and a string of overtime losses in February — Underwood reiterated his faith in his team to reach the final weekend.
Now, Illinois is one of four teams to advance there, two wins from the ultimate goal. The No. 3 seed Illini beat No. 14 seed Penn, No. 11 seed VCU, No. 2 seed Houston and the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament to make it.
And Iowa, on an improbable tournament run, was no pushover.
Illinois never led in the first half after falling behind 12-2 to start the game. Iowa shot 57% from the field and 50% from 3-point range in the first half and led 32-28 behind Stirtz, who scored 15 of his 24 points before halftime.
Illinois took its first lead when Mirković made a layup and free throw to make it 33-32 with 18:36 to play in the second half.
The Illini struggled to go on a significant burst for much of the half. But they finally put together a 10-1 run late, starting with two Mirković free throws and two baskets inside by Tomislav Ivišić. The second Ivišić basket gave the Illini their biggest lead to that point, 56-51, and started the crowd chanting I-L-L.
A Wagler drive and a Zvonimir Ivišić dunk to make it 60-52 also fueled the run.
Tomislav Ivišić scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that got him and the crowd going, and had four rebounds. Stojaković had 17 points and five rebounds, and Mirković had nine points and 12 rebounds. The Illini won the rebounding battle 38-21.
“The difference was we just started to switch our energy, started to play like we always play,” Tomislav Ivišić said. “And I felt like we needed a little bit more from the fans, and they delivered. It was a great feeling.”
Illinois also stayed focused during a bizarre stretch in the first half. With Iowa leading 22-20, play was stopped because the arena’s horn wouldn’t turn off. As the piercing sound continued, Underwood spoke with officials and Illinois and Iowa players stood on the court, looking at the scorers table, dumbfounded.
It carried on so long that officials had both teams warm up while staff tried to fix it. Eventually, they turned it off, turning instead to a physical airhorn. The center-court video board also was turned off in the solution because it was connected to the horn.
“I was like, ‘Really? I’m going to get cold now standing around for 10 minutes or however long,’” Wagler said. “We just had to stay focused and not let that distract us.”
Wagler, a second-team All-American in his freshman season, certainly did that in winning the MVP award, going 8-for-17 from the field and making all seven of his free-throw attempts, including four down the stretch as Illinois hung on.
“Definitely early they were being super physical,” he said. “Once I handled that after the first couple of minutes, it was just like any other game. Reading what they were doing. If they were switching, attacking the switch. If they were doubling, getting the ball out of my hands to whoever set the screen — David, Tomi or Z — and they would go make a play.”
The Illini victory ended a surprising run from Iowa, which lost six of their final eight regular-season games to finish the Big Ten season 10-10. The Hawkeyes had to knock off No. 8 seed Clemson, top seed and defending national champion Florida and No. 4 seed Nebraska just to make it to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987.
But it’s Illinois that will be making more history.
Wagler said the players were shown a photo of what Green Street in Champaign looked like, mobbed with people after the victory, celebrating a feat that hasn’t happened since the Deron Williams and Dee Brown years.
Many of the current Illinois players weren’t born yet to witness that game. But Illinois guard Kylan Boswell grew up in Champaign and was told about it.
“Growing up, I knew a lot about that team and being at this school the last two years, they’re legends,” he said. “They’ll forever be legends. And now being a part of that type of history is crazy.”
Of course, that team won a game at the Final Four.
Underwood said he told his players before the Iowa game to just enjoy the 40 minutes. He says they’ll talk about this week: “One more game, two more times.”
Saturday’s celebration was sweet. But they hope there are more good times ahead.
“You can’t just be happy to get there,” he said. “We’re not going to do that. We’re not wired that way. I’m not wired that way. We’ll go compete.”
