No. 3Illinois Fighting Illini

South Region · Sweet 16

YES!

Illinois Fighting Illini beat the Houston Cougars

Ranked #3 · 27-8 65 – 55

Ranked #2 · 30-7

Final · Thu, Mar 26

Game Details

Toyota Center (Houston) (Houston) · 17,307 fans · TBS, truTV View tournament bracket →

Recap

Illinois clamps down on Houston for a 65-55 March Madness win to reach Elite Eight

David Mirkovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and third-seeded Illinois flexed its defensive muscles to eliminate last year's national runner-up from the NCAA Tournament, beating Houston 65-55 in...

Recap via ESPN

Line Score

	1	2	T
ILL	24	41	65
HOU	22	33	55

Game Flow

ILL HOU

H1H2

17-0Biggest Run8-0

18Largest Lead3

4 lead changes · tied 4 times

Win Probability · Illinois Fighting Illini

tip-offnow: 100%

Game Leaders

Illinois Fighting Illini

David Mirkovic · 14Points
Keaton Wagler · 3Assists
Keaton Wagler · 12Rebounds

Houston Cougars

Emanuel Sharp · 17Points
Joseph Tugler · 5Assists
Chris Cenac Jr. · 10Rebounds

2025-26 Big Ten Conference Standings

Team	GB
Michigan	-
Nebraska	4
Michigan State	4
Illinois	4
Wisconsin	5
Purdue	6
UCLA	6
Ohio State	7
Iowa	9
Indiana	10
Minnesota	11
USC	12
Washington	12
Rutgers	13
Northwestern	14
Oregon	14
Maryland	15
Penn State	16

2025-26 Big 12 Conference Standings

Team	GB
Arizona	-
Houston	2
Iowa State	4
Kansas	4
Texas Tech	4
TCU	5
BYU	7
UCF	7
West Virginia	7
Cincinnati	7
Colorado	9
Arizona State	9
Oklahoma State	10
Baylor	10
Kansas State	13
Utah	14

Team Stats

Illinois Fighting IlliniHouston Cougars

Shooting

22-51, 43% Field Goals 22-64, 34%

9-23, 39% 3-Pointers 9-32, 28%

12-21, 57% Free Throws 2-2, 100%

Possessions

43 Rebounds 34

12 Offensive Rebounds 11

13 Assists 17

2 Steals 4

3 Blocks 2

9 Turnovers 5

14 Fouls 21

Scoring

24 Points in Paint 18

2 Fast Break Points 0

18 Largest Lead 3

Box Score

Illinois Fighting Illini ▾

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	TO	STL	BLK	OREB	DREB	PF
D. MirkovicF	14	10	2	34	6-13	2-6	0-2	3	0	1	1	9	2
J. DavisF	5	4	0	13	2-3	1-2	0-0	0	0	0	3	1	2
T. IvisicC	9	3	3	29	3-5	1-3	2-2	1	0	0	2	1	1
K. WaglerG	13	12	3	38	4-14	3-6	2-5	1	1	2	3	9	1
K. BoswellG	6	4	2	30	0-5	0-1	6-10	1	0	0	0	4	3
Bench
B. HumrichousF	3	1	0	16	1-1	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Z. IvisicC	2	3	1	12	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	3	0
A. StojakovicG	13	0	2	28	5-8	1-3	2-2	2	1	0	0	0	3
J. JakstysF	DNP: Did not play
M. PetrovicG	DNP: Did not play
B. FagbemiG	DNP: Did not play
B. LeeG	DNP: Did not play
AJ ReddG	DNP: Did not play
Ty RodgersG	DNP: Did not play
Team	65	43	13		22-51	9-23	12-21	9	2	3	12	31	14

Houston Cougars ▾

Starters	PTS	REB	AST	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	TO	STL	BLK	OREB	DREB	PF
C. Cenac Jr.F	6	10	1	27	3-12	0-3	0-0	0	1	1	3	7	2
J. TuglerF	6	4	5	25	3-4	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	2	2	4
K. FlemingsG	11	6	4	37	4-10	1-3	2-2	0	0	0	1	5	4
M. UzanG	6	2	5	37	2-11	2-6	0-0	0	1	0	0	2	2
E. SharpG	17	2	1	39	7-16	3-10	0-0	0	1	0	0	2	4
Bench
K. SakhoF	0	0	0	8	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	2
C. McCartyF	9	1	1	20	3-7	3-7	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	2
M. MillerG	0	0	0	7	0-4	0-3	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1
C. LathC	DNP: Did not play
J. McFarlandC	DNP: Did not play
B. JacksonG	DNP: Did not play
K. JeffersonG	DNP: Did not play
I. HarwellG	DNP: Did not play
R. Walker Jr.G	DNP: Did not play
Team	55	34	17		22-64	9-32	2-2	5	4	2	11	23	21

Roster

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vs Fairleigh Dickinson Knights · TBD vs Pennsylvania Quakers · TBD