HOUSTON — Two nights after showing he could contribute beyond just scoring for Illinois, standout freshman guard Keaton Wagler returned to doing what he does best.
Wagler scored a game-high 25 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 17 off the bench and third-seeded Illinois secured its first Final Four berth in 21 years with a 71-59 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa on Saturday in the South Region final of the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois (28-8) seized control of a back-and-forth second half with a 10-1 run that yielded a 60-52 lead with 4:12 left. The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes (24-13) and Illinois combined for 13 lead changes and seven ties in the second half before the Illini took control, first with consecutive baskets from Tomislav Ivisic, who scored 13 points before fouling out in the waning moments.
Stojakovic completed a three-point play with 3:16 remaining to answer a 3-pointer from Isaia Howard and increase Illinois’ lead to 63-55. After Stojakovic added a baseline layup, Wagler made two free throws with 1:12 left to push the lead to 67-59 and send Illinois to its sixth Final Four.
“It’s better than I dreamt it would ever be,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “Thirty-nine years in the business. That’s all I’m going to say about my side of this. This is about these guys.
“I thought our physicality and our purpose at the start of the second half was really, really good. And then we kind of do what we’ve done: just find an offensive spurt or two.”
Stojakovic added five rebounds and was named to the South Region All-Tournament team. Wagler, who recorded a double-double in the win over second-seeded Houston on Thursday, finished 7 of 7 from the line and added three assists to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.
“From the moment we stepped on campus, we kind of got a sense of how talented we were,” Stojakovic said. “It feels surreal actually being in this moment, and I wouldn’t want it any other way with these guys right next to me.”
David Mirkovic posted nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Illinois finished with a 38-21 rebounding advantage and parlayed 16 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
Senior guard Bennett Stirtz capped his lone season at Iowa with 24 points. He played every minute across the Hawkeyes’ four NCAA Tournament games, capping a stellar career with three different programs.
“I’ll just always remember the people around me and the support I always had,” Stirtz said. “This wouldn’t have been possible without everyone in my corner and all these teammates that I’ve had throughout the years.”
Stojakovic and Wagler helped the Illini overcome a ragged start that resulted in an early double-digit deficit. While Illinois missed its first four shots, Iowa started 5 of 6 and took a 12-2 lead by the 15:56 mark of the first half, with Kael Combs and Stirtz scoring five points apiece.
But Stojakovic got the Illini going with a second-chance basket and two layups that sliced the deficit to 15-13. Stirtz stalled Illinois’ 9-0 spurt with a jumper and, after a lengthy delay when the horn stuck with 7:43 left in the half, Stirtz pushed Iowa to a 27-20 lead with consecutive baskets.
After Illinois clawed back to within 27-26, Tate Sage drilled a 3 that extended the Iowa lead to four, a margin the Hawkeyes held at the intermission. The Illini shot just 37% in the first half but turned 10 offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points to offset the Hawkeyes’ 57.1% shooting.
But after making 6 of 12 3-pointers in the first half, the Hawkeyes made just six field goals of any kind in the second. The lack of offense, combined with Illinois’ handiwork on the glass, fueled their demise.
“Probably our lack of shooting caught up with us,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said. “I think that we couldn’t space it, and so when you can’t space it, you can’t get to the rim. So it just became a problem where we were having to take tough 3s.
“I think then you compound that with giving up offensive rebounds, because we’re still right there, regardless. But that was probably the biggest factor; we just didn’t have enough shooting out there.”
–MK Bower, Field Level Media
