Illinois prepares for Elite Eight battle with rival Iowa

All that stands in the way of Illinois’ first Final Four appearance since 2005 is…Iowa. Brad Underwood, Keaton Wagler, Kylan Boswell, and Andrej Stojakovic met with media ahead of the team’s biggest game of the year. A rematch with much higher stakes Illinois and Iowa met once already this season.

The Illini took care of business on the road in Iowa City, defeating the Hawkeyes 75-69 on January 11. “I think we did a great job throughout the course of the game defensively,” Kylan Boswell said. “What’s helped us tremendously throughout this run so far in March is sticking to our process.

Taking the type of shots we want and then guarding the way we’ve been doing…I think if we just continue to stay on that path we’ll be good. ” “Iowa’s a team that’s not gonna go away,” said Keaton Wagler. “When we played them, we got up early on them.

Then we let them back in the game. We can’t get lackadaisical on defense…just stick to our process throughout the whole game. ” Illinois’ backcourt of Wagler, Boswell, and Stojakovic carried the load in the January win, combining for 53 of Illinois’ 75 points.