No. 3 Illinois is feeling elite once again after defeating No. 2 Houston 65-55 in a gritty, physical battle to earn a trip to the Elite Eight for the second time in the last three years. Despite the Cougars presenting a challenge for the No. 2-ranked offense with their No. 4 best defense, the Illini weren’t rattled by the 40 full minutes of physicality and pressure from their opponent. Instead, they rose to the challenge, matching the Cougars’ intensity on the defensive end and ultimately putting the game away on the offensive end. 

Going into this matchup, the key points to winning for Illinois were limiting Houston standout freshman guard Kingston Flemings and dominating the rebounding battle against a team that avidly crashes the glass. The Illini completed both tasks, and they were able to come out victorious, topping off the night with plenty of water on the locker room floor from the postgame celebration. 

“If you ask any guy here, they will tell you, everybody loves each other,” said junior center Zvonimir Ivišić. “Everybody wants to win. We left our personal, individual goals on the side. We put Illinois first, and that’s why we (are) here.” 

Defensive efforts headline the night 

Houston has consistently had one of the top defenses in the country, so Illinois knew that it would have to match that intensity on the defensive end to give itself an edge. For an Illini team that was lacking toughness and grit defensively a few weeks ago, that certainly wasn’t the case on Thursday night, holding the Cougars to just 55 points and just two players in double figures on the night.

“We’ve been very good at times defensively,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “It’s just sustaining it … We’ve got very capable defenders, we’ve got size and length, and we just got to make shots difficult, and not give the hundred percent shot, the dunks, the layups, to teams.”

While Houston’s offense isn’t ranked as high in efficiency as its defense, it’s still dangerous with Flemings’ scoring talent on the perimeter and midrange, alongside physical rebounders in the paint. From the jump, Illinois knew what it needed to do on the glass to pull out a Sweet Sixteen win. Illinois didn’t let up on the glass the whole night, out-rebounding Houston 43 to 34 by the final buzzer. 

The main difference maker in the wide rebounding margin between the two teams was defensive rebounding. As the Cougars couldn’t seem to knock down open shots consistently, keeping them off the offensive glass was crucial to not give up second chances. Defensive rebounding wasn’t an issue for the Illini, though, as they recorded 31 defensive rebounds compared to the Cougars’ 23. 

“Some of their best offense is just their offensive rebound,” said graduate student forward Ben Humrichous. “We had to make sure that we locked into that physicality from the start. Even, I was proud of some of the first few possessions, the way that we went out to hit and force them to have to stop or even make multiple efforts on the glass to get a chance for a rebound.” 

On the rebounding front, the Illini freshmen were the ones to lead the charge. Freshman forward David Mirković and freshman guard Keaton Wagler led Illinois in rebounds on Thursday night, grabbing 10 and 12 rebounds, respectively. It was a career-setting night for both the freshman as Wagler recorded a career high in rebounds with his 12, and Mirković broke the Illinois freshman record for most rebounds in a season.

“Coaches were telling us before the game, it’s going to be a guard game to get rebounds,” Wagler said. “We need 10-plus out of the guards. So I took that challenge on.”

Outside of rebounding, Illinois’ impressive defensive performance was evident in Houston’s final shooting percentages. The Cougars shot just 34.4% from the field, including 28.1% from three on the game. They also only shot two free throws the entire game, a testament to the Illini’s ability to defend without fouling. A team effort to defend Flemings after senior guard Kylan Boswell sat with three fouls at the beginning of the second half held the star freshman to just 11 points on four for 10 from the field. 

Illinois’ size and length proved to be a problem for Houston, as Illinois was able to contest its 2-point field goals and keep Flemings uncomfortable with his midrange shot. Forcing the ball out of Flemings’ hands forced other Cougars to get involved, and the Illini were fine to live with that. Other usual offensive contributors, freshman center Chris Cenac Jr. and senior guard Milos Uzan, shot just a combined 5 for 23 from the field. 

“We have used our size and length to our advantage all year long,” said junior wing Andrej Stojaković. “I think that was one of those games where when you have a team with good shooters and good inside presence as well, you kind of have to use all your tools to win the game.”

Forcing turnovers benefits Cougars 

Although the defenses were evenly matched in the first half, Houston kept itself in the game, even when it shot just 27.3% from the field early on, by benefiting from Illinois’ turnovers. The Illini handled the Cougars’ defensive perimeter pressure well out of the gate, moving the ball quickly when caught in trapping situations. However, Illinois started to get sloppy with the ball during the final 10 minutes of the first half, which was a reason Houston almost tied the game up at halftime.

“We expected that from them,” Ivišić said. “They’re a pretty good team, and they came to the Sweet Sixteen for a reason … We still played together, sticked together.” 

Not only did the Cougars force the Illini into five first-half turnovers, but they also scored 7 points off of those turnovers. When Houston causes its opponents to turn the ball over, that’s how its offense can get going. The turnovers allowed it to build offensive momentum and knock down some shots when Illinois wasn’t set defensively after the turnover. 

A huge difference for Illinois in the second half, though, was its increased ability to take care of the ball and make quicker offensive decisions, even with two Houston defenders quickly trapping every ball screen. This is what benefited the Illini during its long second-half run that gave them a cushion of a lead through the game’s last 10 minutes. 

Second half Illini offense comes to life

Illinois found out early on in the matchup that Houston’s defense was as elite as the rankings and statistics show. The Cougars’ defense forced the Illini to use up the entire shot clock each time down the floor to find the shots that they wanted, even forcing a rare shot clock violation early on for one of the nation’s most efficient offenses. Alongside the turnovers, Houston held Illinois to 35.7% from the field, including 27.3% from three in the game’s first 20 minutes. 

“That first half probably set basketball back a few years in terms of the excitement level and the shooting,” Underwood said. “But when you play a (head coach) Kelvin Sampson team, you know that’s probably what it’s going to be.”

Over the course of the first half, the Illini had glimpses where they started to carve up the Cougars’ defense by moving the ball and not letting it stick in one place too long, where it could get stolen. Even with Houston sending two defenders to trap Wagler in ball screen action, the freshman didn’t record a single first-half turnover. However, Mirković struggled to make quicker decisions in the first half and recorded two turnovers. The right ideas were there on how to beat Houston’s defense, but the execution wasn’t up to par yet. 

That all changed coming out of halftime. By utilizing cutters more, moving the ball consistently, and staying patient to get the best shot available, Illinois was able to improve its shooting percentages greatly from the first half.  The Illini shot an impressive 52.2% from the field along with 50% from deep in the final 20 minutes. When they got into their offensive rhythm and made improvements out of halftime, such as having cutting options near the baseline and making the right reads to find them, the Cougars’ defense didn’t stand a chance. 

“They bring two to the ball pretty quickly in ball screens,” Underwood said. “It’s something we’ve been very, very good at attacking. Then it was just a matter of reading what they did, whether it was going to be a full rotation to our pops, to our five-man, or whether they were just going to let those guys make plays.”

After about three minutes into the second half, the Illini offense took over and didn’t look back. Illinois went on a 17-0 run over the course of about six minutes, which gave it a commanding 18-point lead. Unlike other games earlier this season, the Illini stayed the course and didn’t give up this advantage, due to continuing to play high-level defense and using their second-chance opportunities. 

In the end, Mirković led the way in scoring for Illinois with 14 points on 6 for 13 shooting, while Wagler and Stojaković backed him up with 13 points each. Overall, once the Illini started hitting shots, both from three and inside the paint, the Cougars’ defense couldn’t contain the Illini offense. While the game started as a dog fight on the defensive end, Illinois’ efficient offense proved once again that it can turn the tide of a game at any moment. 

Houston fights back, but Illinois stays elite 

Despite Illinois’ 17-0 run that created a solid lead, Houston wasn’t ready to go down easily with plenty of time left on the clock. Bit by bit, the Cougars started knocking down shots and cut into the Illini’s lead. Houston’s late surge was led by redshirt senior guard Emanuel Sharp, who finished the game with 17 points on 7 for 16 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers. Sharp scored 11 of his 17 points within the final 10 minutes of the game, both by getting himself to the rim and knocking down threes. 

However, the Illini didn’t let Sharp’s late-game resurgence rattle them. Instead of going cold on the offensive end and letting up defensively as they’ve done in other games this season, they continued to search for good shots while withstanding the Cougars on the defensive end. Free-throw shooting also played a pivotal role in the final minutes of the game. Houston started to send Illinois to the charity stripe with about three minutes left, and Illinois struggled to convert there to extend its lead further. The Illini shot just 57.1% from the free-throw line in the matchup.

“​​We’re fifth in the country in free throw shooting, it made it a little more interesting than I thought it needed to be, but excited to be moving on, and that’s what we came here to try to do,” Underwood said. 

Illinois’ poor late-game free-throw shooting didn’t change the game’s outcome, though, as it still came out victorious in the tight Sweet Sixteen battle. Although the job isn’t finished, for multiple Illini, this is the farthest they’ve made it in The Big Dance, and it’s a “surreal” moment in their college basketball careers. With the win, Illinois earned itself a date on Saturday with a familiar Big Ten foe in the South regional final: No. 9 Iowa. 

“Today was the last guaranteed day I had as a college basketball player before this moment,” Humrichous said. “Each of these moments, I get two more days where I get to celebrate with this team and get to have all these moments, so I’m just so proud of our fight tonight.”

@evy_york2 

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