NCAA roundup: Illinois outlasts Iowa; Arizona surges past Purdue

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.