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It was a tale of two halves on Saturday. The Illinois Fighting Illini did not let up one bit against Big Ten foe Iowa in the second half. The Hawkeyes could not keep up with Brad Underwood’s team. The Purdue Boilermakers, on the other hand, faced an Arizona Wildcat team that was flat-out better than them, and not much else mattered after a great first-half showing.
Here are the scores and the rest of my analysis from the Big Ten games in the NCAA Tournament from the Elite Eight on Saturday:
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No. 3 Illinois 71-59 vs No. 9 Iowa
Iowa was as good as they could have been in the first half, as they went up 32-28 at the end of the first half. Bennett Stirtz was amazing early, and the Iowa Hawkeyes took advantage of how bad Illinois started off shooting-wise. They ran out of gas, and it was evident they were not on the same level as Illinois, as Illinois went on to win the second half battle 43-27. Illinois had everyone step up in this game. Andrej Stojakovic had 17 points and only missed 2 shots off the bench. Tomislav Ivisic had 13 points and 2 blocks, while the Illini were led by their star freshman Keaton Wagler, who got back to playing at his peak level. The size Illinois had in this one made the difference; they won the rebounding battle 32-18, and the bigs for Illinois seemed to be able to get looks in the paint at ease. Illinois shows again that it can win games without being great from 3. Illinois has shown that it can adjust to how they have to win the game. Yesterday, it was about them being physical in the paint. Illinois belongs in the final 4, and this is a team with a great shot to be the final one standing.
No. 1 Arizona 79-64 vs No. 2 Purdue
Purdue played perfect basketball in the first half, outdueling the Arizona Wildcats down 38-31. It almost seemed like Purdue was going to run away with this one, but Arizona showed why they were favored so highly to win this game with an amazing second-half comeback. Arizona remembered they were the better team in the…
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Publish date : 2026-03-29 14:27:00
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