HOUSTON – The Cinderella story continues.

No. 9 seed Iowa men’s basketball’s road to NCAA Tournament glory has been all but smooth. An undermanned, yet gritty No. 8 seed Clemson squad pushed the Hawkeyes to the brink in the round of 64. The No. 1-seeded Florida Gators, on a quest for a national title repeat, were stunned by the Hawkeyes in front of their large fanbase.

And now, in Houston against No. 4 seed Nebraska, with thousands of Cornhusker fans occupying the majority of the seats inside Toyota Center, it was Iowa who prevailed with a double-digit comeback to secure the 77-71 victory and its first Elite Eight appearance in 39 years.

After falling into a double-digit deficit four minutes into the game, Iowa slowly climbed its way back to a one-possession game by halftime. And after three failed attempts to break the tie and go ahead, it was Bennett Stirtz’s catch-and-shoot three with 2:10 for the first lead of the game, followed by a series of dagger buckets from Tate Sage and Alvaro Folgueiras.

Iowa held Nebraska to 28 percent shooting – 9-of-32 on field goal attempts – in the second half. Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager combined for 21 of the Cornhuskers’ 25 second-half points. The rest of the team shot 2-of-18.

Four Hawkeyes scored at least six points for the 34-25 scoring advantage post-halftime – Stirtz with 10 points, Sage and Folgueiras with eight apiece, and Koch with six.

Iowa’s prize for reaching the Elite Eight? A rematch with another Big Ten foe and No. 3 seed Illinois.

Illini wins fight with Cougars

The last time these two faced off, the Fighting Illini walked out of Carver-Hawkeye Arena victorious with a 75-69 finish on Jan. 11. Iowa missed its last five shots, including two shots coming after offensive rebounds, in the last 1:09 of the game. Those are opportunities the Hawkeyes have capitalized on throughout their  March Madness run.

All of Illinois’ starters scored at least seven points. It’s three-guard play of Keaton Wagler, Andrej Stojakovic, and Kylan Boswell combined for 53 of the team’s 75 points on 19-of-38 shooting as a group. Big man Zvonimir Ivisic was the lone Illini to score off the bench with eight points.

For Iowa, this was one of the rare games at the time where four players scored in double figures. Tavion Banks and Sage, both off the bench, led the squad with 16 points and 13 points, respectively, while Stirtz had one of his lowest-scoring outputs with 12. Koch finished the game with 10.

Illinois earned its second Elite Eight bid in three years with a 65-55 win over No. 2 seed Houston on Thursday. Early in the second half, the Fighting Illini broke out on a 17-0 run that set the tone for the rest of the game. They displayed dominance on both ends.

Houston, a typically stout defensive team that sets the tone, shot 34 percent from the floor and 28 percent from distance. Illinois won the rebound battle, 43-34, and hit 39 percent of its threes, 12-of-21 from distance. And of all players, it was 6-foot-6 Wagler that secured the most boards with 12. Forward David Mirkovic followed up with 10.

Only two Cougars scored in double figures – Emanuel Sharp with 17 points and Kingston Flemings with 11 points. Mirkovic led the Illini with 14 points, followed by Wagler and Stojakovic’s 13 points apiece.

Scouting Illinois

Offensively, Illinois ranks 17th in the nation with an 84.7 scoring average along with 11 made threes a game, the ninth-highest average. Its 41 rebounding average ranks 10th. Defensively, it’s just outside the top 50 with 69.4 points allowed per game. Even more important, the Fighting Illini hold the second-lowest foul total with 13.3 per game, which aids its nation-leading 9.1 opponent free throw makes and 12.5 opponent free throw attempts per game.

All five starters produce a double-digit scoring average, with the leader of the bunch being First Team All-Big Ten guard Wagler. The freshman has been one of the biggest surprises in all of college basketball with averages of 17.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on 41.1 percent shooting from three. Six players average north of four rebounds per game, and four players sit above 35 percent from three.

Nine of the 14 Illini players are at least 6-foot-6 and over. That includes seven of the eight players who receive prominent playing time – Kylan Boswell being the outlier at 6-foot-2. Tagged as Illinois’ best defender, he’ll more than likely be the one guarding Stirtz as he did back in January.

Both teams certainly have improved since the last time they faced off 75 days ago. The chess match between Ben McCollum and Brad Underwood will be an all-time coaching battle on the big stage.

Tipoff is set for 5:09 CT Saturday, March 28, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The game can be streamed on TBS and TruTV.