'I dreamt about doing it at Illinois': Final Four dreams come true for Illini coach
What Illinois coach Brad Underwood and players had to say after beating Iowa in Elite Eight to reach the Final Four.
The Illinois Fighting Illini dominated the second half Saturday to win the Elite Eight battle over Iowa in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That put No. 3 seed Illinois in the Final Four for the first time since 2005.
Both the Illini and No. 9 seed Iowa had plenty to say after the game. The Illini will face either Duke or UConn in the Final Four.
What Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said Underwood: "They threw the first punch. They bloodied us. Their physicality was very well-noted.
I thought after the first five minutes, we settled in, even though we missed some shots. And then I thought our physicality and our purpose in the start of the second half was really, really good. Then we kind of do what we've done, just find an offensive spurt or two, and Tommy ( Tomislav Ivisic ) got a couple of back-to-back post-ups that gave us a more-than-a-one-possession lead, and then we got stops.
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