Three keys for Illinois to beat Iowa and advance to Final Four

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 26: Alvaro Folgueiras #7 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates a basket with Bennett Stirtz #14 against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Toyota Center on March 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images Just how we all drew it up. For Illinois to advance to its first Final Four in two decades and have a shot at a national championship, the team standing in its way will be the… Iowa Hawkeyes.

Yep. We wouldn’t want it any other way. So what does Illinois — which opened as a 5.

5-point favorite over the Hawkeyes, per FanDuel Sportsbook — have to do to win on Saturday night in Houston? Make your free throws Maybe it’s recency bias, but a big part of me right now is afraid to go to sleep because Illinois may miss more free throws in my dreams. 12-of-21 from the charity stripe isn’t going to win many games.

Luckily, it didn’t burn the Illini on Thursday against the Cougars, but I could very much seeing another 57% performance coming back to bite them in the behind. I don’t know how many more times they were going to say on the TBS broadcast that Illinois was the 11th-best free throw shooting team in the country this season, but I was getting nervous when Kylan Boswell missed three in a row late in the game. If you’re going to advance to the Final Four, you’ll need to make a few more free throws.