LIVE FROM BOSTON: Illinois 53, Iowa State 49, 7:37 left in second half
Shannon, Hawkins carrying the Illini, but Shannon dealing with foul trouble and Cyclones are making a run Illinois has beaten Iowa State 53-49 in the second half of the tournament, but the team's lead was only four points after some sloppy play in the last two minutes of play. Despite a 6-0 run by Iowa State, the team has managed to build their lead back to four points. Both teams are shooting nearly identical from the field, with Illinois scoring 39 percent (19 of 48) and Iowa State at 38 percent (18 of 48). The game ends at 7:37pm, with both teams having 10 turnovers and seven. Terrence Shannon Jr. has a game-high 20 points, but has been benched since he picked up his fourth foul with 11:17 left in the game. If the Illini win, they will face Connecticut in the Elite Eight.
Publicerad : 4 veckor sedan förbi Scott Richey [email protected] i Sports
Some sloppy play the last two minutes, but Illinois has built its lead back up to four points. The question remains, though: When does Brad Underwood put Terrence Shannon Jr. back into the game?
Illinois went to its constant through the first two rounds to end a 6-0 run by Iowa State, with Dain Dainja scoring on a reverse layup off a nice entry pass by Marcus Domask to put the Illini up 53-49.
Iowa State is on a scoring drought of 2 minutes, 14 seconds. Both teams are shooting nearly identical from the field, with Illinois at 39 percent (19 of 48) and Iowa State at 38 percent (18 of 48). The Illini have 10 turnovers and Iowa State has seven.
Shannon, who has a game-high 20 points, has been on the bench since he picked up his fourth foul with 11:17 left in the second half.
Terrence Shannon Jr. now has four fouls after picking up his fourth with 11:17 left in the second half and is on the Illini bench. The question is when does Brad Underwood bring him back in? The Cyclones are currently on a 6-0 run, with Keshon Gilbert up to 14 points. Illinois has called a timeout.
Terrence Shannon Jr. is up to a game-high 20 points, but also has three fouls. He was called for his third foul with 15:10 left in the second half vying for a loose ball.
Coleman Hawkins is up to 12 points, but he also has three fouls. He got his third foul with 12:31 left in the second half.
Still, the Illini have built their lead back to eight points thanks to solid play from its bench.
Luke Goode picked a good time to make his first three-pointer for Illinois, with his make from the left corner pushing the Illini lead to 46-37 with 14:17 left in the second half. Dain Dainja scored his first three points of the night, one on an offensive rebound putback and another on a free throw, to help out the Illini.
Right after Shannon collected his third foul, Hawkins made a steal and finished off a two-handed fast-break dunk to put the Illini up 43-37 with 14:36 left.
If the Illini hold on for the win against the Cylones, they'll play Connecticut at 5:09 p.m. on Saturday in the Elite Eight.
Illinois ended its lengthy drought from the field when Terrence Shannon Jr. converted a 10-foot jump shot in the lane off an offensive rebound, but Iowa State is not going away.
The Illini, though, are keeping the Cyclones at bay. A three-pointer from Coleman Hawkins, his second of the night, bumped the Illini lead back to 41-34 with 16:47 left after Tamin Lipsey had cut Iowa State's deficit to 38-34 on a drive to the basket. Hawkins is up to 10 points, with Shannon still leading all scorers with 18 points.
Illinois missed its first two shots of the second half, extending its streak of nine straight missed field goals dating back to the first half.
A stoppage in play happened only 84 seconds into the second half to review a play by Marcus Domask where his elbow caught Lipsey in the chin. But officials didn't rule a potential flagrant foul on Domask.
Iowa State's leading scorer on the season, Keshon Gilbert, scored his first points on the first possession of the second half by making a layup before he was fouled. Gilbert is the reason why the Cyclones are only down five points as he's 4 of 4 from the field so far in the second half and is up to 10 points.
Illinois is one more solid half from reaching the Elite Eight on Saturday night and getting a shot at reigning national champion Connecticut.
Terrence Shannon Jr. has a game-high 16 points and four other Illini have scored at least four points, with Illinois holding Iowa State at bay offensively. The Cyclones are only shooting 29 percent from the field (9 of 31) as Illinois has led the entire game.
"We're up 10 in the Sweet 16 against a two seed," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in a TV interview at halftime before he went in the locker room. "So we're ecstatic."
Shannon is 6 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 8 from three-point range. An 82 percent free-throw shooter, Shannon is only 1 of 4 at the foul line and starts the second half with two fouls. Something to monitor in the second half.
Coleman Hawkins (seven points, six rebounds, two assists), Quincy Guerrier (five points, three rebounds), Marcus Domask (four points, three rebounds, two assists) and Ty Rodgers (four points, five rebounds, two assists) have also contributed for the Illini.
Illinois has struggled at the free throw line, only making 7 of 16 (44 percent) at the foul line in the first half. The Illini entered Thursday night's game shooting 74 percent from the free throw line.
But, the Illini have the best player on the court in Shannon, who is now up to 715 points this season and is the first Illini to top 700 points in a single season.
"Terrence Shannon Jr. is doing it all," former Villanova coach and CBS analyst Jay Wright said on the halftime TV show. "Once he gets a steal and in the open floor, it's over."
Curtis Jones leads Iowa State with 13 points off the bench.
Earlier in the night on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston, top-seeded UConn rolled past fifth-seeded San Diego State 82-52. Cam Spencer led the Huskies with 18 points, while Tristen Newton added 17 points and Stephon Castle finished with 16 points.
Terrence Shannon Jr. is doing what he wants offensively and Illinois is doing what it wants defensively.
It's adding up to a quality first half for the Illini, who have led Iowa State by double digits for most of the Sweet 16 game.
Marcus Domask attempted his first shot from the field — and made it — to give the Illini a 28-15 lead with 5:09 left in the first half. He's up to four points.
But the real story is Shannon having a game-high 14 points on a trio of three-pointers and patented drives to the basket, while the Illini defense have limited the Cyclones to 30 percent shooting from the field so far.
Just when it looked like Iowa State would make it a close game, Coleman Hawkins and Terrence Shannon Jr. woke up.
Shannon is up to 11 points, finishing off a fast break with one of his patented dunks, and Hawkins made the Illini's fifth three-pointer of the first half to pad the Illini lead back to nine after Iowa State trimmed its deficit to 16-12.
"I love what we're doing defensively," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in a TV interview. "So far, so good."
Iowa State is only shooting 4 of 16 (25 percent) from the field, while Illinois is 8 of 16 (50 percent) and 5 of 11 from three-point range.
A Ty Rodgers dunk, combined with efficient three-point shooting from Terrence Shannon Jr., already has the Illini leading Iowa State by double digits.
Shannon is up to nine points and is 3 of 5 from three-point range, with all of his shots so far coming from beyond the arc.
Illinois is limiting Iowa State to only 17 percent shooting, with the Cyclones 2 of 12 from the field near the midway point of the first half.
Just like Illinois did this past Saturday night against Duquesne, the Illini got off to a good start against Iowa State. Three-pointers from Terrence Shannon Jr. and Quincy Guerrier, sandwiched in between by a two-handed dunk by Coleman Hawkins, put the Illini ahead 8-0 before Iowa State scored its first basket with 16:28 left in the first half.
But another three-pointer by Shannon has the Illini leading 11-2 at the first media timeout of the night. Illinois is 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range, assisting on all four of its baskets so far, while Iowa State is 1 of 4 from the field.
Illinois has to beat Iowa State first. If the Illini do, they'll meet top-seeded Connecticut on Saturday night with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
The Huskies cruised past San Diego State 82-52 on Thursday night, meaning the Illinois-Iowa State game will tip off close to the approximate 9:09 p.m. tip time.
The Illinois women's basketball team has made it a successful start to Thursday night for Illini fans.
The Illini won 69-61 at Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the WBIT, advancing to a Monday semifinal game against either Washington State or Toledo at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Genesis Bryant led Illinois (17-15) with 19 points, while Makira Cook added 17 points. Adalia McKenzie and Kendall Bostic each finished with 10 points, with Bostic grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds for Illinois.
If Illinois is able to beat Iowa State on Thursday night, all indications seem like it will have to beat Connecticut if it wants to reach the Final Four.
The top-seeded Huskies are rolling against fifth-seeded San Diego State, leading 64-45 with less than eight minutes to go.
Meanwhile, across the country, sixth-seeded Clemson kept its unlikely NCAA tournament run by beating second-seeded Arizona 77-72 in Los Angeles. A local connection with Clemson? Former Rantoul standout Kareem Richardson, who is still the Eagles' all-time leading scorer even though he graduated from Rantoul in 1993, is a Clemson assistant coach.
Reigning national champion Connecticut holds a 40-31 lead on San Diego State halftime during the first East Region game on Thursday night at TD Garden. The winner between UConn and San Diego State will meet the winner of Illinois and Iowa State on Saturday night in the Elite Eight.
Update from Tulsa, Okla. — The Illinois women's basketball team leads Tulsa 35-24 at halftime during the WBIT quarterfinals. Beat the Golden Hurricane and the Illini will play in the semifinals on Monday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis against either Washington State or Toledo.
Genesis Bryant has a team-high 12 points to lead the Illini, with Camille Hobby and Kendall Bostic each supplying eight points.
It's been nearly two decades since Illinois played a game with the kind of importance, the weight, of tonight's Sweet 16 showdown against Iowa State at TD Garden in Boston.
Illinois's return to college basketball relevance on the national stage was missing this piece. Plenty of Big Ten success. More wins the last five years, in fact, than any other team in the conference. But that success didn't continue into the NCAA tournament.
Until now. Illinois is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005 with a real shot at extending its NCAA tournament run tonight against Iowa State. The Illini have the No. 1 offense in the country, per KenPom, in adjusted efficiency. The Cyclones, similarly, have the No. 1 defense.
Something's got to give. But what?
That will ultimately be decided after midnight in Boston, with coverage here and on social media (follow beat writer Scott Richey) before, during and after the game.