Ben McCollum’s dream run through the NCAA tournament is over. No. 3 Illinois finally pulled away from the Hawkeyes late in the second half on Saturday night in their Elite Eight matchup to grab a 71-59 win at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Iowa's magical March Madness run concludes in Houston with a hard-fought 71-59 loss against Illinois. Recap and highlights.

The Fighting Illini will have to face the East Region champion and No. 2 UConn Huskies, led by two-time NCAA Division I national champion head coach Dan Hurley.

Freshman Keaton Wagler scored 25 points and Illinois ended Iowa’s underdog March Madness run by dominating in the frontcourt, beating the Hawkeyes 71-59 to advance to the Final Four for the first time

No. 3 Illinois avoided a potential upset on Saturday, taking down No. 9 Iowa by the final score of 71-59 in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA tournament.

Illinois beat Big Ten rival Iowa in Elite 8 to move on to the Final Four, where the Illini will play the winner of the Duke-UConn game on April 4.

What happened Avoiding Big Ten teams had worked well for Illinois in the NCAA tournament. A blowout against Penn in the first round, more of the same against VCU in the second and then a dose of Houston's own medicine delivered to the Cougars in the Sweet 16.

Keaton Wagler scored a game-high 25, Andrej Stojakovic added 17 off the bench and 3-seed Illinois secured its first Final Four berth in 21 years