GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Illinois men's basketball team has advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons. No. 3-seeded Illinois beat No. 11-seeded VCU, 76-55, Saturday night to advance to the South Regional Semifinal against Houston in Houston on Thursday.
Illinois (26-8) trailed for only 24 seconds in the dominant second-round victory at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Illini outshot VCU 48%-35%, controlled the glass 45-29, and played aggressive defense without fouling leading to a nine-point edge from the line. The formula led to Illinois' second straight comfortable win after a 105-70 rout of Penn in Thursday's first round.
Andrej Stojakovic led four Illini in double figures with 21 points off the bench, including 16 in the first half, while Keaton Wagler and Tomislav Ivisic each added 14 points, and Kylan Boswell chipped in 12. Ivisic posted a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.
VCU (28-8) took its first and only lead, 28-26, at the 3:09 mark of the first half. Stojakovic answered by scoring the final nine points of the half, as part of a personal run of 11 straight points for the Illini, to regain a 35-28 lead at the half.
Back-to-back threes from Wagler and David Mirkovic to start the second half built Illinois' lead to 13 with 18:47 left as the Illini completely took over the game. An exclamation point fastbreak dunk by Zvonimir Ivisic followed by a Boswell three ballooned Illinois' lead to 17 with 14:10 remaining and the Illini cruised the rest of the way.
Illinois won for the 26th time this season, tied for the fifth-most wins in program history, while head coach Brad Underwood earned career victory No. 300. The Illini advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time under Underwood, and for the 10th time since the tournament field was increased to 32 in 1975. Illinois last appeared in the Sweet 16 in 2024, when Underwood guided the program to the Elite Eight.
No. 2-seeded Houston (30-6, 14-4 Big 12) awaits the Illini on Thursday at the Toyota Center in Houston. The Cougars opened with a 78-47 win over 15th-seeded Idaho, and are coming off an 88-57 victory in Round 2 over No. 10 seed Texas A&M.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- Illinois improves to 26-8, tied for the fifth-most wins in program history.
- Brad Underwood earned career victory No. 300 as a Div. I head coach.
- Brad Underwood owns two of the top-five, single-season win totals in program history:
- 2005 - Bruce Weber, 37-2 – National Runner-Up
- 1989 - Lou Henson, 31-5 – Final Four
- 2024 - Brad Underwood, 29-9 – Elite Eight
- 2001 - Bill Self, 27-8 – Elite Eight
- 2026 - Brad Underwood, 26-8 – Sweet 16
- 2006 - Bruce Weber, 26-7 – Round of 32
- 2004 - Bruce Weber, 26-7 – Sweet 16
- 2002 - Bill Self, 26-9 – Sweet 16
- 1985 - Lou Henson, 26-9 – Sweet 16
- 1984 - Lou Henson, 26-5 –Elite Eight
- Illinois moved to 48-36 (.571) all-time in NCAA Tournament games
- Illinois advances to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons under Brad Underwood, and for the 10th time since the tournament field was increased to 32 in 1975.
- Illinois advances to the Sweet 16 twice in a three-year span, following the team's 2024 Elite Eight appearance, for the first time since a run of four Sweet 16s in five years from 2001-05:
- 2001 – Elite Eight
- 2002 – Sweet 16
- 2004 – Sweet 16
- 2005 – National Runner-Up
- Brad Underwood is the fourth Illinois coach to lead the Fighting Illini to multiple Sweet 16 appearances since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975:
- Lou Henson (4) - 1981 Sweet 16, 1984 Elite Eight, 1985 Sweet 16, 1989 Final Four
- Brad Underwood (2) – 2026 Sweet 16, 2024 Elite Eight
- Bill Self (2) – 2001 Elite Eight, 2002 Sweet 16
- Bruce Weber (2) – 2004 Sweet 16, 2005 Runner-Up
- Brad Underwood has led the Illini to NCAA Tournament wins in five of the last six years.
- Underwood is now 8-5 in the NCAA Tournament at Illinois, and 10-9 for his career.
- Underwood's eight NCAA Tournament wins are fourth-most at Illinois, one behind Bruce Weber and Harry Combes (9 each), and four behind the program record held by Lou Henson (12).
- Illinois improves to 2-0 all-time vs. VCU, and 1-0 vs. the Rams in the NCAA Tournament.
- Head coach Brad Underwood is 2-0 vs. VCU in the NCAA Tournament after leading 12th-seeded Stephen F. Austin to a win over fifth-seeded VCU, 77-75 (OT), for his first tourney win in 2014.
- The Illini are now 8-4 all-time as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- Illinois is 5-0 all-time against the No. 11 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
- 2026 Second Round (Greenville, S.C.) – #3 Illinois 76, #11 VCU, 55
- 2025 First Round (Milwaukee, Wis.) – #6 Illinois 86, #11 Xavier, 73
- 2024 Second Round (Omaha, Neb.) – #3 Illinois 89, #11 Duquesne, 63
- 1997 First Round (Charlotte, N.C.) – #6 Illinois 90, #11 USC 77
- 1993 First Round (Salt Lake City, Utah) – #6 Illinois 75, #11 Long Beach State 72
- The Illini are 36-16 (.692) as a higher (better) seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Players
- Andrej Stojakovic poured in a game-high 21 points with four rebounds, one assist, and one block.
- Eighth game of the season with 20+ points
- 16 points in the first half, including nine straight over the final 2:45 to erase VCU's only lead of the game.
- Tomislav Ivisic posted a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 11 rebound (3 offensive), with two assist and one block.
- Third double-double of the season, and 14th of his career (most among active Illini).
- Fifth player in program history with multiple double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament, joining James Augustine (3), Deron Williams (2), Brian Cook (2), and Nick Anderson (2)
- 20 points and 10 rebounds vs. Xavier – 2025 Round 1 (3/21/25)
- 14 points and 11 rebounds vs. VCU – 2026 Round 2 (3/21/26)
- 17th game of the season in double-figures scoring, 39th of his career.
- 14th game of the season with multiple 3-pointers, first since Feb. 18 at USC.
- 101 3-pointers are the most in the nation among 7-footers over the last two seasons.
- Keaton Wagler tallied 14 points with five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
- 26th consecutive game with 10+ points, and his team-leading 31st double-figure scoring game, overall.
- 19.1 points per game since Dec. 6.
- 19th game with at least five rebounds.
- 20th game with multiple 3-pointers.
- Tied Kylan Boswell for the team-lead with a +/- rating of +23
- Kylan Boswell recorded 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, ane one steal.
- 42nd double-digit scoring game of his career (most among active Illini), 18th this season.
- Tied Keaton Wagler for the team-lead with a +/- rating of +23
