Illinois 65, Houston 55 Postgame

[Illini_Jack]

Other than missing those free throws at the end, I thought that was the most complete game we've played all year. Kudos to the coaching staff and the players. Well done.

 

[Mr. Roberts]

41 point second half!

 

[Oranges]

 

[Champaign88]

Wagler:

13pts, 12reb, 3ast, 1TO, 3-6 from 3pt.

And the one turnover should have been a Houston foul.

 

[jamie13197]

Iowa for a final 4 and Bruce Pearl in studio. Please oh please curb stomp them!

 

[mattcoldagelli]

We manhandled them and should have won by 25. What a feeling.

 

[Altgeld's Bells]

Jamal is sad. They are still talking up Houston.

 

[illini510]

Unbelievable! Simply amazing! I cannot believe how almost of a flawless game that the Illini played. They beat Sampson and Houston at their own game. Rebounding/physicality/defense on display. I am slightly shocked b/c I didn't think they had it in them to take it straight down Houston's throat and they did just that. This avenges the 2022 game where Houston was clearly the superior team but I thought today, the Illini were the superior team and stood toe to toe with the big bad bully. A total team effort with Mirk, Wagler, Stojakovic, and Tomi leading the way. Excellent gameplan and excellent job. This was a huge step for this program....HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGE step. This is the kind of game you have to win to get to the Final 4. Bravo to our group! Bravo to Underwood for finally winning a big time game outside of Iowa St in the Sweet 16. This goes a long way with Illini Nation and goes a long way to prove he can coach well in the games that matter b/c that often times has not been the case.

 

[Butters]

Let's ****ing goooooooo

 

[stlrunner]

Jamal Mashburn can get bent.

 

[nyc_illini]

HOLY !!!! GUYS WE DID IT!!!

my streak is going strong. 5/5!!! Just got my ticket for Saturday. They ain’t stoppin, i ain’t stoppin

 

[blackdog]

Houston struggled all year against the top teams and Illinois absolutely played like a top team. Everyone played with so much poise and it looked like Houston's pressure barely even phased them.

 

[The Galloping Ghost]

Genuinely love seeing the students out there. Got to experience that in 2005, incredible memories. Hope we finish the job this time so they can go absolutely crazy.

 

[Iillinifan4ever]

Great game Illini. Solid defense and rebounding. Gotta work on those free throws. Let's go beat Iowa.

 

[fuggles]

revenge is so sweet

 

[Chuck Nuggets]

F*** YES!
F*** YES!
F*** YES!

 

[PTPerUniversity]

This is where all of those blown lead comebacks paid off. Houston brought it, but this team was not fazed. The errors did not compound.

An incredible win. A national championship contender win.

 

[GraytheCoog]

Good game Illini. Keep on dancing.

Meanwhile, we'll fix this failed experiment and be back another year.

 

[Keisersose]

we won this game bc of how we attacked their defense in the second half. Drive and hit the baseline cutter.

We had 41 pts in the second half?!

 

[ImGonnaBeILL]

Best defensive effort of the year

By far IMO

Held Houston to lowest point total this season. Beat Houston in a defensive battle

 

[eas23]

Unfortunate we have to play North Carolina in Greenville and Houston in Houston with a team and coach who won't get past the first weekend.

 

[BrownTown]

I'm not sleeping.

I will be listening to every second of Illinois basketball podcasts that I can get my hands on.

 

[Poe's Law]

The funny thing is, that was our B game on offense…but A-plus on defense.

Got about 6 minutes of our A game on offense and it was enough.

 

[NASchamp]

Other than missing those free throws at the end, I thought that was the most complete game we've played all year. Kudos to the coaching staff and the players. Well done.

Our Defense was insanely good. Especially in the first half. We’ve never locked down like that.

 

[jamie13197]

Dre some beast defense tonight. All of them did.