HOUSTON — The Iowa men's basketball team will face off against Illinois in the Elite 8 at Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday at 5:09 p.m.
The No. 9 seed Hawkeyes (24-12, 10-10 Big Ten) are back in the Elite 8 for the first time since 1987 while the No. 3 seed Illini (27-8, 15-5 Big Ten) are back for the second time in three years.
Illinois beat Iowa 75-69 in Iowa City in January during Big Ten play and have won five straight and 10 of the last 11 over the Hawkeyes.
It is the first meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Tournament and Iowa's third all-time meeting with a Big Ten opponent in the tournament (Purdue, 1980; Nebraska, 2026). It is the first time since 2000 that two Big Ten teams will face each other in the Elite 8, guaranteeing the conference a Final Four berth for the second time since 2019.
People are also reading…
Starters for 9 Iowa (24-12, 10-10 Big Ten) vs. 3 Illinois (27-8, 15-5 Big Ten) in the Elite 8 👇 pic.twitter.com/8lL9PCaOeN
— Ethan Petrik (@ethan_petrik) March 28, 2026
The game will be broadcast by TBS and TruTV with Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (color), Stan Van Gundy (color) and Lauren Shehadi (sideline) on the call.
Westwood One (SiriusXM 209 or 202) will provide satellite radio coverage of the game with Spero Dedes (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst) on the call.
Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) will call the game for Hawkeye Radio Network. Brian Barnhart (play-by-play) and Deon Thomas (analyst) will call the game for the Illini Sports Network.
Iowa gets off to hot start to take early 10-point lead
H1 15:21 | Iowa 12, Illinois 2
Iowa connected on five of its first six field goal attempts and limited Illinois to just one make on five looks to take an early 12-2 lead.
The Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of the game and Bennett Stirtz hit a triple to respond to Illinois' first field goal to put Iowa ahead by 10.
Illinois answers Iowa's early surge with 11-3 run
H1 11:47 | Iowa 15, Illinois 11
After it's 1-of-5 start, Illinois hit three of its next five field goal attempts and went 3-of-5 at the free throw line to cut Iowa's lead to 15-11.
Andrej Stojakovic scored four points during the rally.
Iowa's lead down to two after Illinois offense catches fire
H1 7:43 | Iowa 22, Illinois 20
Illinois's offense remained red-hot as it extended it's 3-of-5 shooting surge to 7-of-10, cutting the lead to 22-20.
Stirtz leads all players as the first to double figures with 10 through the first 12 minutes.
Iowa--Illinois in a delay as jumbotron, buzzer malfunction
As the under-eight media timeout came to a close, the horn sounded to signal to both teams to return to the floor.
Here’s what we were dealing with: pic.twitter.com/lERa40jLxB
— Ethan Petrik (@ethan_petrik) March 28, 2026
The buzzer did not stop sounding until the jumbotron at the Toyota Center was completely shut off.
Iowa remains in front as play resumes following delay
H1 3:39 | Iowa 27, Illinois 26
Play resumed after the jumbotron was turned off to silence the horn.
Iowa scored the first five points out of the stoppage, but Illinois rallied to score the next six a cut the lead back down to 27-26.
Iowa takes lead into the half, holds Illinois to 1-of-last-11
HALF | Iowa 32, Illinois 28
Who has more to gain from Elite 8 win -- Iowa or Illinois?
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
