Illini dance into the Elite Eight with win over Iowa State

BOSTON, Mass. (WCIA) — Illinois basketball is elite. The third-seeded Illini had to fight tooth and nail over No. 2 seed Iowa State to advance in a game they never trailed, winning 72-69 at TD Garden Thursday night. Leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Illini relied on their defense in the second down the stretch to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005 and just the third time since 1990.

Illinois led 36-26 at the half, making four of its five first 3s to jump out to leads of 8-0, 11-2 and 21-12. The Cyclones went on scoring runs in the second half but Illinois held Iowa St. to just 39.7% shooting from the field.

“It’s comforting to know what they’re going to do,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said about his veteran squad in crunch time. “I’ve got tremendous amount of confidence of what these guys do.”

Terrence Shannon Jr. logged another dominant performance with 29 points, playing through foul trouble that kept him on the bench for nearly six minutes late in the second half. The Illini were able to sustain though, with key buckets from Luke Goode, Marcus Domask and a steady hand from Coleman Hawkins, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Illini will once again reach a milestone not seen since the 2004-05 season, playing in the Elite Eight against one-seed UConn on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. on TBS.

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