The Illinois Fighting Illini survived a below-average shooting night against the Houston Cougars on Thursday, playing smothering defense and securing a 65-55 Sweet 16 victory.
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Both team struggled immensely to make shots early in the matchup. After seven minutes, the score was tied at 14. A 10-2 run by Illinois was quickly erased by an 8-0 run by Houston in response.
By halftime, Illinois held onto a 24-22 lead. They wasted no time putting up points in the second half, jumping out to a 15-point lead with over ten minutes to play.
A quick scoring burst by the Cougars made it a five-point game, but they were unable to make the game any close for the rest of the night.
Keaton Wagler had 13 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks for Illinois while David Mirkovic had 14 points and ten rebounds.
For Houston, Emanuel Sharp finished with 17 points while shooting 7-of-16 from the floor.
Illinois is now set for an Elite 8 matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
