No. 2 Houston Cougars vs No. 3 Illinois Sweet 16 Live Updates, Box Score
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This game is considered by many to be the most even matchup in the Sweet 16. It will be a must-see TV in the nightcap of the South Regional as the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars face the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini with a chance to head to the Elite Eight.
The South Regional is in the Toyota Center in downtown Houston, and that makes it somewhat of an unofficial home game for Houston, but the Illinois orange will still likely show up in big numbers. The main matchup is the mighty Illinois offense, ranked second in the country according to Kenpom against what is considered to be the best scoring defense in the country in Houston.
This is a late tip-off at approximately 9:05 p.m. central and is bound to be a tight one. Houston enters as 2.5 point favorites and are 30-6 on the season overall. The Cougars are coming off back-to-back 31-point wins in the first and second round against No. 15 seed Idaho and No. 10 seed Texas A&M.
Houston limited both those opponents to 47 points total, but will have its work cut out against the multitude of shot-makers for the Illini. Freshman All-American point guard Kingston Flemings will be a huge factor in this game and will need to be at his best like he has done for most of the season.
Flemings is the leading scorer on the team with 16.2 points, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The San Antonio native has led the team lead in scoring in 21 games and has already set the Houston freshman scoring and assists single-season records. Senior guard Emanuel Sharp is second with 15.4 PPG and is the all-time leading 3-point shooter in Houston basketball history.
Houston has played in Toyota Center four previous times and have a 3-1 record. The Cougars beat Florida State 82-67 in December. This will be the fourth time UH has played a NCAA Tournament game in Houston and the Cougars are 3-0. The last time was 1983 where No. 1 Houston beat Maryland in The Summit.
Coogs vs Fighting Illini
Illinois is 28-6 entering this game and were ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll compared to Houston at No. 5. The Illini have won four out of their last five games and beat No. 11 seed VCU 76-55 on Saturday in the second round. Junior guard Andrej Stojakovic came off the bench to lead Illinois with 21 points.
Consensus freshman All-American point guard Keaton Wagler has been the leading scorer for Illinois with 17.8 points and 4.4 assists per game. Freshman forward David Mirkovic is second with 13.6 PPG and leads Illinois with 7.9 rebounds per game. Stojakovic is third on the team with 13.5 PPG. Junior center Tomislav Ivisic is the fifth Fighting Illini with double-digit points.
Head Coach Brad Underwood is in his ninth season at Illinois and his 13th year as a collegiate head coach. He is 0-1 against Houston and Kelvin Sampson. Illinois is 4-3 in neutral-site games and 12-5 in non-home games.
The all-time series against Illinois is tied at 3-3. This is the first matchup against Illinois since the 2021-22 season where the Cougars beat the Illini in the second round of March Madness 68-53. That was the first NCAA Tournament game between the two. The series began in 1967-68 where No. 2 Houston won 54-46 in Champaign, Ill.
Houston faces off against Illinois in Toyota Center in Houston. Be sure to check back here at tipoff for live updates as the game goes on.
Follow below for live updates as the game progresses.
Live Updates
1st Half | 2nd Half | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
Houston | 22 | 33 | 55 |
Illinois | 24 | 41 | 65 |
Starting Lineup: G Kingston Flemings, G Milos Uzan, G Emanuel Sharp, F Joseph Tugler, F Chris Cenac Jr.
Under 16 Timeout: Houston 0, Illinois 2
Houston starts out cold shooting wise and was 0/7 from the field. However, it was only down 2-0 thanks to the defense.
Under 12 Timeout: Houston 8, Illinois 9
Both teams started to figure out shooting. Uzan and Sharp each made 3-pointers for Houston. Stojakovic had four early points for the Illini.
Under 8 Timeout: Houston 14, Illinois 14
Cenac Jr. finally hit a jumper but Mirkovic responded with back-to-back shots. Tugler got his first field goal and followed it up with another floater. Both teams are not shooting great, but the Cougars did force a couple of turnovers.
Under 4 Timeout: Houston 14, Illinois 21
The Illini go on a 7-0 run thanks to a buzzer beater and a 3-pointer from Stojakovic. Houston's scoring drought reaches over four minutes.
HALFTIME: Houston 22, Illinois 24
Both teams were shooting poor in this defensive game. Houston was shooting just 27% from the floor while Illinois wasn't much better at 34%. Flemings hit a massive 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer and cut the deficit to just two. Stojakovic leads the Illini with nine.
Under 16 Timeout: Houston 26, Illinois 33
Cenac Jr. tied the game on a dunk. Wagler hit a 3-pointer and the Illini went on a 6-0 run and forced a Houston timeout.
Under 12 Timeout: Houston 26, Illinois 44
The Illini go on a 17-0 run over an almost six minute period and begin the second half on a 20-4 start. It's a disastrous start to the second half for Houston.
Under 8 Timeout: Houston 35, Illinois 46
The Cougars put together a couple of baskets from Sharp, but Illinois have started to draw fouls and get to the line.
Under 4 Timeout: Houston 41, Illinois 58
Illinois is just dominating this game even with a short Cougars run to cut the lead down to 9. The Illini responded and took the 17 point lead back. Multiple 3-pointers went down and they are getting whatever they want.
Final: Houston 55, Illinois 65
It was too little too late for Houston as the shots started falling, but it was too much of a deficit to overcome. UH shot just 34% from the field and were 9/32 from three. Houston only got two free throw attempts in this game. Shots not falling were the story of the game. Sharp was the leading scorer with 17 points while Flemings added 11. Cenac Jr. was 3/12 from the field and added 6 points. Uzan just had 6 points on 2/11 shooting.
Houston got nine turnovers, and got 15 points off them. Houston lost the rebounding battle by nine.
Maanav Gupta is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He graduated from the University of Houston in the summer of 2025 with his bachelor’s in journalism and a minor in Spanish. Gupta spent three years at the student newspaper, The Daily Cougar, and also covered the 2025 Final Four and National Championship as Houston beat writer for College Basketball Review. He also has his own YouTube channel, Maanav’s Sports Talk, where he has interviewed professional athletes and broadcasters like Jim Nantz, Jose Altuve, J.J. Watt, Rich Eisen, and Alperen Sengun. Gupta was also a contributor to the Houston athletic program as a student. You can find Gupta on X, Instagram and TikTok @MGSportsTalk.