HOUSTON — Keaton Wagler waved for the Illinois faithful to stand up Saturday night as he dribbled the final seconds off the clock. After time expired, the Fighting Illini freshman phenom hugged fellow freshman David Mirkovic.
Tears flowed before the orange and navy blue confetti fell from above as the realization set in: Illinois was heading to the Final Four for the first time since 2005.
Led by Wagler, the third-seeded Illini rallied from an early double-digit deficit to grind out a 71-59 win over ninth-seeded Iowa in the South Regional final in the Toyota Center. Wagler finished with a game-high 25 points to go with 3 assists, and was named the South Regional’s Most Outstanding Player.
“It’s a crazy moment,” Wagler told Hoops HQ. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was little.”
The first all-Big Ten showdown in a regional final since Wisconsin beat Purdue in 2000, Illinois (28-8) used tough defense, strong rebounding and timely offense to beat its conference rival for the sixth consecutive time. Mirkovic, a freshman from Montenegro, grabbed a game-high 12 boards to give the Illini a 38-21 advantage on the glass and added nine points to fall just short of his fifth double-double in eight games.
Mirkovic, named to the regional all-tournament team, tried to describe his feelings while hugging Wagler afterward. As he spoke, Mirkovic sat in the locker room wearing a cowboy hat he purchased before the team traveled to Houston for the regional.
“It was just pure emotion,” Mirkovic says. “A lot of people doubted us, and all our hard work paid off. I really don’t know how else to explain it.”
Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic was efficient with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and added 5 rebounds off the Illini bench as he, too, made the regional all-tournament team. And 7-foot-1 junior center Tomislav Ivisic had a 13-point night to help Illinois outscore Iowa 40-12 in the paint.
Stojakovic was eager to talk afterward with his father, former NBA sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic, who watched from the stands. The younger Stojakovic paraded around the court while holding the regional championship trophy with a slick pair of shades on his face. The lights certainly were bright for the Illini.
“It feels great to come out of this stage as the winner with this group of guys,” Stojakovic says. “We’re excited to be here for the first time in 20 years, and we’re excited to go compete for a national championship.”
The lowest-seeded team in Big Ten history to reach the Elite Eight, Iowa (24-13) saw its unexpected postseason run end under first-year coach Ben McCollum despite getting 24 points from senior guard Bennett Stirtz. The Hawkeyes made 11 threes but shot only 38.3 percent from the floor, including just 23.1 percent during a back-and-forth second half in the program’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1987.
Stirtz, who played previously for McCollum at Division II Northwest Missouri State and Drake, was an iron man again, playing all but 28 seconds in the game. He had played every second of Iowa’s NCAA Tournament wins over No. 8 Clemson, No. 1 and defending national champion Florida and No. 4 Nebraska as the program was dancing for the first time in three years.
“We just got punked on the glass,” says Stirtz, who scored 15 points in the first half. “I think that’s where it started. They’re obviously a great team, so credit to them, but it stings because I thought we had a chance to beat them. They were just better down the stretch.”
Iowa jumped out to an early 10-point lead before Illinois trimmed the deficit to two, 22-20, with 7:43 left. Then there was an 11-minute delay because of a stadium scoreboard malfunction, which caused the horn to blare for about seven minutes. The Hawkeyes eventually went into halftime leading 32-28. The game seesawed back and forth after intermission until a 10-1 run fueled by a pair of Ivisic buckets put Illinois ahead for good with 4:06 left.
A projected lottery pick and consensus second-team All-American, Wagler lived up to the hype and played his best when it mattered the most. He had 14 of his points in the second half on an array of jumpers, drives to the basket and free throws.
It was another chapter in his incredible story. He received only two high-major offers coming out of Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Northwest, when he was ranked as the nation’s No. 261st player in his class, according to the 247Sports Composite ranking.
“He hit some tough shots, and he’s tough to guard,” Stirtz says of Wagler, who had a career-high 46 points in a Jan. 24 win at Purdue. “We had our hands full with him.”
The only first-year coach to guide a team to the Elite Eight this season, McCollum coached the Hawkeyes to three NCAA Tournament wins in the past nine days. That matched the program’s total over the previous 20 seasons.
McCollum, an Iowa native who won four D-II national titles at Northwest Missouri State, also coached the Hawkeyes to their most victories in four seasons.
“It’s been a blast coaching this group,” McCollum says. “They’re tough kids, and I’m disappointed for them. But they built a foundation for Iowa that we hope will last moving forward.”
Illinois knocked off No. 14 Penn, No. 11 VCU and No. 2 Houston by an average of 22 points per game to reach its second Elite Eight in three seasons under Brad Underwood. By beating Iowa, the Illini are back in the Final Four for the first time since finishing as the 2005 national runner-up to North Carolina.
This is the first Final Four for Underwood, who waited 26 years to become a D-I head coach after being an assistant at that level and coaching in junior college. Illinois had losing records in each of his first two seasons before he won 21 games during the so-called “COVID season,” when the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled. He has followed that with trips to the Big Dance in each of the past six seasons with the Illini.
Underwood described the feeling of making the Final Four as “better than I’d ever dreamed.” Illinois, still seeking its first national title, will face the East Regional winner, either Duke or UConn, next Saturday in a national semifinal in Indianapolis.
“We understand that we’ve got to win one more game twice to get where we want to go,” said Underwood, who previously coached Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State to the NCAA Tournament. “That’s all we talk about — winning a national championship.”
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