‘I dreamt about doing it at Illinois’: Final Four dreams come true for Illini coach

The Illinois Fighting Illini dominated the second half Saturday to win the Elite Eight battle over Iowa in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

That put No. 3 seed Illinois in the Final Four for the first time since 2005. Both the Illini and No. 9 seed Iowa had plenty to say after the game. The Illini will face either Duke or UConn in the Final Four.

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What Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said

Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood speaks in a press conference after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in an Elite Eight game of the South Region of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center.

Underwood: “They threw the first punch. They bloodied us. Their physicality was very well-noted. I thought after the first five minutes, we settled in, even though we missed some shots. And then I thought our physicality and our purpose in the start of the second half was really, really good. Then we kind of do what we’ve done, just find an offensive spurt or two, and Tommy (Tomislav Ivisic) got a couple of back-to-back post-ups that gave us a more-than-a-one-possession lead, and then we got stops. They came out blazing, 57 percent the first half, and then I think they made six field goals the second half, and only one 2.”

Underwood, on freshman Keaton Wagler: “Yeah, we knew Keaton was going to be good early. We had a scrimmage with Florida that was very physical, very competitive, and at times he was the best player on the court. That was shocking to me. Then how you handle a little adversity, then how you handle crowds … nothing fazed him. And then once we got kind of past the UConn game, we put him on the ball a lot, and we said ‘We’re going to rock with this kid, and we’re going to live and die.’ “

Underwood, on his basketball journey: “One of the most fulfilling moments personally that I just had was standing on the ladder with the net, and then seeing our fans and being able to just – that wasn’t about me. That was about our fans, and that was about what’s probably going…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dreamt-doing-illinois-final-four-094707563.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-29 09:47:00

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